We’ve been fighting the Stop Online Piracy Act and Protect IP Act for months now, but unfortunately the chorus of others in the comic book industry vocally opposed have been few (but growing).

Yesterday I received the below and can proudly say that Fantagraphics Books has added their voice to those opposed to the legislation making them the largest publisher to do so.  Below is a statement from their President:

“We are opposed to SOPA on the grounds that it gives the state too much unilateral authority to censor or exercise its power so that the result is effectively censorship once removed. It doesn’t provide sufficient safeguards to mitigate our concern over potential harm to free speech. Fantagraphics Books has been traditionally a proponent of 1st Amendment rights —we have vigorously fought four private lawsuits that have attempted to violate those rights— and although we also believe in intellectual property rights, we believe this bill is deleterious to the former and too draconian for the latter.” – Gary Groth, President of Fantagraphics Books

We applaud their stance and willingness to speak out and hope this encourages others in the comic book industry to join the growing vocal publishers, creators and bloggers opposed to this trampling on free speech.  We also encourage everyone to show their support for Fantagraphics by Tweeting thanks and more importantly buy their books!