PRO-IP signed into law | DMP delays releases

Anime News Network has an update on a bunch of Digital Manga Publishing books that were stricken from Diamond Previews (remember, Diamond doesn’t so much “cancel” books, as they cancel “solicitations”).  DMP says the books are merely delayed, and unlike Tokyopop, they offer a timeline for most of these titles.

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Comic Foundry has posted an excerpt on laws and prosecutions related to owning sexually explicit comics, including the Handley case.  The full article appears in Comic Foundry magazine issue 4, which goes on sale tomorrow.

I don’t like being political here, but I do want you to keep this in mind… the main crux of the whole attorney firing scandal, which mainstream media didn’t report in-depth, was the Bush administration’s insistance that there be more obscenity-related prosecutions.  Many of the prosecutors fired were those who had expressed disinterest in persuing obscenity cases out of First Amendment concerns.

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ComiPress translates an article on the 12 best-selling manga of all time, all of which have broken 100 million copies sold.

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Comics212 examines just how Mouse Guard fits into the sale of Archaia Studios… or more intriguingly, how it doesn’t appear to fit in thus far.  Its current hiatus may even point to the possibility that creator David Petersen is already riding out the non-compete clause in his contract, if such a clause exists.  Go read.

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(Via Slashdot) Wired reports that the PRO-IP act, which creates a “copyright czar” to coordinate inter-agency investigations into copyright infringement, has been signed into law.  The federal government also has expanded powers to enforce copyright on the behalf of large copyright holders (such as RIAA), including seizure of computer equipment.

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The Escapist hypothesizes that men who like fictional porn are turkeys.  This is a much cooler article than I make it out to be.