Click here for more on PEN's OFAC suit. Home > Core Freedoms > Press > OFAC Press OFAC PRESS Following is a list of articles and press clips about PEN's recent lawsuit against the Treasury Department, which asked the court to strike down OFAC regulations that require publishers, writers, and translators to seek a license from the government to perform the routine services necessary to publish foreign literature in the United States. September 30, 2004 | New York Sun | Trade groups sue Treasury on Freedom of Speech issues Two publishing trade organizations have jointly filed suit against the Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control in a New York federal court. >> More February 28, 2004 | New York Times | Treasury Dept. is warning publishers of the perils of editing Writers often grumble about the criminal things editors do to their prose. The federal government has recently weighed in on the same issue — literally. >> More September 27, 2004 | Star-Ledger | Suit pits free speech vs. 'trading with the enemy' A geology journal spiked a paper by Iranian scientists on methods for predicting earthquakes. The reason: Fear of whopping fines and jail time for "trading with the enemy." >> More February 21, 2004 | Los Angeles Times | U.S. Embargo Extended to Editing Articles For U.S. publishers, changing so much as a comma in an author's work can be more than a delicate process. >> More September 27, 2004 | Chronicle of Higher Education | Publishers will sue U.S. government A group of publishers' and authors' associations expects to file suit today against the Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control, which enforces regulations against countries under a U.S. trade embargo. >> More September 28, 2004 | Daily Variety | Embargo Violates Free Speech A coalition of publishers and authors filed a lawsuit Monday seeking to overturn Treasury Dept. rules restricting American publishers from working with authors in countries under a trade embargo, such as Cuba and Iran. >> More September 28, 2004 | New York Times | Treasury Dept. Being Sued for Curbs on Editing The regulations, meant to keep Americans from trading with enemies, require anyone who publishes material from a country under trade sanctions to obtain a license before substantively altering the manuscript. >> More September 29, 2004 | New York Times | Ending Editorial Oversight at the Treasury Department No matter how the Treasury Department's ruling is framed, denying editorial cooperation of this kind deprives us as much as it does the sanctioned countries. >> More September 30, 2004 | Baltimore Sun | Curb the Thought The Treasury Department's bone-headed decision not to allow U.S. publishers to edit the works of writers from trade-sanctioned countries has ended up in court. >> More September 30, 2004 | New York Sun | Trade groups sue Treasury on Freedom of Speech issues Two publishing trade organizations have jointly filed suit against the Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control in a New York federal court. >> More October 9, 2004 | Chicago Tribute | Right to Publish The rule should be simple: The free exchange of ideas in books and other papers is not trading with the enemy. >> More November 1, 2004 | Wall Street Journal | Nobel Laureate sues U.S. When Ms. Ebadi sought to publish her memoirs in the U.S., she was startled to discover that doing so would be illegal, under a trade embargo intended to punish repressive governments such as the regime in Tehran that once sent her to jail. >> More November 12, 2004 | Chronicle of Higher Education | Illegal Trafficking Most American scholars remain blissfully ignorant of the risks of international collaboration. Yet simply publishing in the United States an article co-written by a colleague from Cuba, Iran, or Sudan could subject the editor or publisher to criminal liability and fines of up to $500,000 or 10 years in prison. >> More November 16, 2004 | New York Times | Bound But Gagged I learned, sometimes in the face of tragedy, that the written word is often the most powerful—and only—tool that we have to protect those who are powerless. >> More November 19, 2004 | Contra Costa Times | At the library In case you have ever wondered about the power of words, writers and books, this amazing situation may answer your question. >> More December 2, 2004 | Boston Globe | Iran Inanity Orwellian bureaucratic rules meant to impose sanctions on undemocratic or unfriendly regimes should not be used to silence democrats who oppose those regimes. >> More December 11, 2004 | Washington Post | Will her voice ever be heard? Ever wonder what happened to the State Department's chief of propaganda? The head of public diplomacy was supposed to win the hearts and minds of the Muslim street. >> More December 16, 2004 | Miami Herald | Firms allowed to print Cuban works Academic publishers claimed victory on Wednesday when the U.S. government relaxed rules about printing works from Cuba and other blacklisted countries in response to a lawsuit filed in September. >> More Home | Site Map | Copyright / Privacy Policy | Contact Us © 2004-2012 PEN American Center. All rights reserved.