CBLDF Joins The Media Coalition

The Comic Book Legal Defense Fund is proud to announce that it has become a member of the Media Coalition, a national association that defends the First Amendment right to produce and sell books, magazines, recordings, videotapes, videogames, and now comic books.

Founded in 1973, Media Coalition represents most of the booksellers, publishers, librarians, periodical distributors, recording and videogame manufacturers, and recording and video retailers in the United States. Its members include The American Booksellers Foundation for Free Expression, The Association of American Publishers, Inc., The Freedom to Read Foundation, The Interactive Entertainment Merchants Association, The International Periodical Distributors Association, Inc., The Motion Picture Association of America, Inc. The American Library Association, and others.

Membership in Media Coalition affords the Fund the ability to track the activities of Congress, state legislatures, and the courts on new laws and legal developments related to the First Amendment. Media Coalition will also permit the Fund to participate in legal challenges to unconstitutional laws and prepare amicus curiae, or Friend of the Court briefs, in cases involving the First Amendment rights of producers and distributors of constitutionally protected works. The Media Coalition also communicates with federal, state, and local government officials on a regular basis in an effort to advise them on proposed legislation affecting material that is protected by the First Amendment, giving Fund members a voice in how the law will affect their interests.

"In joining this prestigious organization, the CBLDF now stands as an equal among this country's most important First Amendment advocates," says CBLDF Legal Counsel Burton Joseph. "This is very good news for the Fund's members who depend on the organization to provide them with the most up to date information on how the law is changing and to fight for their rights in that legal climate."

For more information on Media Coalition, please visit www.mediacoalition.org. For more information on the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund, or to make a tax-deductible donation in support of their work, please visit www.cbldf.org.