CBLDF to challenge Customs seizure

Newsarama follows up on a Comic Book Legal Defense Fund press release about the U.S. Customs seizure of copies of the Stripburger anthology. In an Oct. 27 letter to Top Shelf Productions, the anthology's American agent, Customs officials said Peter Kuper's Richie Bush and Bojan Redzic's Moj Stub constituted "clearly piratical copies" of registered and recorded copyrights.

"Richie Bush," appearing in Stripburger (Vol. 12) #37, is a four-page parody of Richie Rich that also satirizes the Bush Administration by superimposing the personalities of the President's cabinet on the characters from the comic. "My Pole," appearing in Stripburger (Vol. 3) # 4-5, which was published in 1994, is an eight-page ecology parable in Slovenian that makes visual homage to Snoopy, Charlie Brown, and Woodstock in three panels. Customs seized five copies of the issue with the Peanuts reference and fourteen copies of the issue containing "Richie Bush." The stories were both published in the middle of their respective issues and no graphics from either story appeared on the covers.

The CBLDF has retained counsel to challenge the seizures.

At The Comics Reporter, Tom Spurgeon has some questions about the case and how and when it was publicized.