The Comic Book Legal Defense Fund booth at WonderCon 2010. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
by Mike Hansen
Good news!
The other week, I posted my dismay at a manga translator in Sweden being charged and convicted of child pornography possession for Japanese comic-book drawings on his computer, who was ordered to stop referring to himself as a manga expert, resulting in his loss of work.
In other words, no children were exploited, and no harm was done to anyone. Except one citizen who dared to do research for, y’know, his job.
The CBLDF has reported that Sweden’s Supreme Court has overturned the conviction, ruling in favor of free speech over draconian and unjust laws:
CBLDF Executive Director Charles Brownstein welcomed the ruling, stating, “This is an important victory for free expression and for manga. The Swedish Supreme Court has correctly drawn the boundary that governments have a compelling interest in prosecuting criminal behavior, not ideas or expression. Child pornography is an abhorrent crime because real people are harmed, and the creation, distribution and possession of that content are criminal behaviors that contribute to creating victims. Today’s ruling that drawings of an imaginative nature where no victim is created cannot be child pornography is clear-minded and will hopefully provide guidance here in the United States and around the world when similar cases arise in the future.”
(More in the link.)
JUSTICE!
Related articles
- Manga images ‘not child porn’: Supreme Court (thelocal.se)
- Crime › Swedish translator of Japanese manga appeals child porn fine (japantoday.com)
- Manga Translator Appeals Child Pornography Charges (escapistmagazine.com)
- Supreme Court mulls manga child porn appeal (thelocal.se)
- The Case of Simon Lundström (pinitostranslation.com)
- Manga images ‘not child porn’: police expert (thelocal.se)
- Escape from Canada’s Manga Censorship Dungeon [Crime] (io9.com)
- More Links Catch-Up (Walking Dead, Superman, Alan Moore, Joss Whedon, D&D, etc.) (alldaycomics.com)
- CBLDF: Protect Yourself at International Borders (comicmix.com)
- ComicXology joins Comic Book Legal Defense Fund (comicbooked.com)
All Day Comics 
Good god I’m glad this man wasn’t thrown in prison for owning some comic books! This unnecessary and draconian rulings over anime is starting to become nothing but a violation of freedom of speech. We’re creating victims out of people who aren’t criminals.
I’ve seen so many comic-books and shows get unfairly altered so badly because of these ridiculous laws. Take TERA in the USA where the company EN-Masse forced censorship on the entire video-game because a cartoon character showed it’s stomach! For the same reasons as the Swedish Manga Translator case!
Now bathing-suits are coming out for the game and the whole censorship just looks mind-boggling ridiculous. How is a drawing made up by someone being elevated on the standard of a real, actual human being?
Cartoon characters are suddenly real-life human beings?