Imagine going to Canada for a vacation. At the border, a Canadian customs agent goes through your suitcase, then checks your iPod, iPad and your laptop computer. The agent finds manga on your laptop, and deems it to be child pornography. Your laptop is seized by the Canadian police, and you're looking at time in court, plus if you're convicted, a year in jail, minimum.
Sound horrifying? It sure is. Sound too horrifying to be true? It's not - in fact, an American manga reader is facing this situation now.
The Comic Book Legal Defense Fund sent out a media advisory today regarding this situation. They also announced that they have agreed to assist with this case by contributing funds toward the defense, which is estimated to cost $150,000 CDN. Comics and manga fans are encouraged to contribute to the CBLDF's efforts by making a tax-deductible contribution at www.cbldf.org.
If you've been following the news in manga / comics land, you know that this is also not the first time something like this has happened.
In 2010, a package addressed to Iowa manga and comics collector Christopher Handley was seized by US Postal Service, and Handley was prosecuted for possessing child pornography. Handley opted to plead guilty to the charges before the case was brought to trial, and was sentenced to six months in jail, plus three years of "supervised release" and five years of probation.
In May 2011, artist Tom Neely and small press publisher Dylan Williams ran into trouble at the US/Canada border en route to the Toronto Comic Arts Festival. Canadian Border Services confiscated copies of Young Lions by Blaise Larmee and an anthology called Black Eye 1: Graphic Transmissions to Cause Ocular Hypertension, deeming the materials "obscene."
This new case, involving a "American citizen, computer programmer, and comic book enthusiast in his mid-twenties" threatens to set a disturbing precedent for manga and comics readers in North America. This is why the CBLDF's Board of Directors "voted unanimously to aid the case by raising funds to contribute to the defense and to help the defense with strategy and expert resources."
In the CBLDF press release, Executive Director Charles Brownstein had this to say about this case:
"This is an important case that impacts the rights of everyone who reads, publishes, and makes comics and manga in North America. It underscores the dangers facing everyone traveling with comics, and it can establish important precedents regarding travelers rights. It also relates to the increasingly urgent issue of authorities prosecuting art as child pornography. While this case won't set a US precedent, it can inform whatever precedent is eventually set. This case is also important with respect to artistic merit in the Canadian courts, and a good decision could bring Canadian law closer to US law in that respect. With the help of our supporters, we hope to raise the funds to wage a fight that yields good decisions and to create tools to help prevent these sorts of cases from continuing to spread."
The CBLDF has also offered advice on out how you can protect yourself from similar situations, and how you can help support this effort to defend a fellow comics reader's rights.
Be Informed - Know how to protect yourself when you're traveling with comics. CBLDF has created an advisory for travelers crossing international borders with comics that outlines issues to be aware of when you're traveling.
- Spread The Word - Let your friends know about this important issue by spreading the word. The more people aware of this case and the risks facing people traveling with comics and manga, the more likely we'll be able prevent the next case before it starts.
Tell Us Your Story - Have you or someone you know experienced a search or seizure at any border because of comics in your possession? Tell the CBLDF! Email info@cbldf.org to tell us your story. The more we know, the better able we are to help.
Make A Donation - Defending cases like this one costs a lot of money. If you believe that being arrested for reading comics and manga is unjust, please make a donation to the CBLDF today. Sign up for membership or make a donation in any amount. Every dollar helps us raise the funds that will help pay for this case and to create resources to help prevent others like it. Donate by visiting: http://cbldf.org/contribute/
You can read the entire press release about this case, and learn more about how you can help by visiting www.cbldf.org .
Comments
But, maybe, if there weren’t underage girls in compromising situations in Manga this type of stuff wouldn’t be happening.
Let’s think of it this way. If those were actual photos in the comic frames, and not drawings, would we still be defending this?
But they’re not. They are lines on page. Most people recognize the difference between fiction & non-fiction.
Let’s reverse that idea. Let’s imagine that everyone ever caught reading “Lolita” was arrested and placed in jail. Would you defend people reading a classic work of fiction?
Don’t forget there were two movie version of “Lolita” made as well, so we’d have to throw everybody who ever saw them as well as everybody involved in making them in jail.
Oh yeah, and also anyone who ever read the Bible.
I’d really like to know what Manga it is that they say is child pornography. I mean, if I tried to cross the border with a volume of Dragon Ball were Goku strips down to swim would they take that for child pornography?
We still don’t know which manga titles caught the Canadian customs’ agent’s attention, but in times like this, it’s worthwhile to take another look at Neil Gaiman’s essay (written during the Christopher Handley case) entitled “Why Defend Freedom of Icky Speech?” This should be of particular notice to fans of yaoi manga, shojo manga and moe manga and, heck, manga in general.
I also find it really disturbing that the official found it necessary to search this guy’s laptop, iPod and iPad for offending material.
Canada Customs officials check every computer that is about to cross the border.
Wait, that doesn’t make a whole lot of sense to me. I’ve traveled to Canada several times in the past 3 years, each time with my computer. I haven’t ever had to go through this kind of digital cavity search.
Visaman is full of shit. Canada Customs has the right to search your computer and they may well do it, but they do not do it on a consistent basis. Most of the time and most of the people get waived through with a few standard questions. A more thorough search and interrogation can happen for a number of reasons: random draw, something in your travels is flagged (lots of trips back and forth to southeast Asia for instance), inconsistency in your answers, your behaviour, lack of a return ticket, concern that you are a runaway or looking for work and so on. The thoroughness of the search can also vary widely as well. It’s a very good idea to know what is on your computer when you go across the border.
The attitude of these customs agents is the same as the TSC thugs who had a 95 year old, wheelchair bound woman remove her adult diaper because they “felt” something suspicious.When her daughter became so upset she started to cry they insisted on a “grope and search” of her because she was acting “suspiciously”!
They’ll tell you it’s about keeping you safe from terrorist’s but it’s really about seizing more control over your life. If you think the incidents are unrelated you seriously need to rethink that position.
My dad used to say that during the “Red Menace” days of the 1950’s his father would tell him that we would wind up with a soldier on every street corner if we didn’t stop looking for communists under every bed. Have you checked your airports and large public events lately? How about all the surveillance cameras everywhere you go? Terrorism is the new “Red Menace”. Yes we’ve been down this road before.
Anybody who travels and hasn’t a least double encrypted his hard drive is just asking for trouble
I collect manga from Japan (non-hentai) and every time I place an order my heart is in my throat because I’m at the mercy of some customs agent or postal inspectors interpretation of what “big brother” thinks is obscene today and what isn’t.
Welcome to “The Brave New World”.
/secondhand embarrassment for Canadian customs
Although I hate to admit it, espcially since I loathe Lolicon and Shotacon (What this guy allegedly had), It is as far as I’m aware protected under free speech… in AMERICA. This person was going to Canada. Canada is much harsher and they DO have a ban on even fictitious and obviously cartoon images of minors engaging in any sexual activity. He should have been aware of Canadian laws.