Description of Incident: "Last Tango in Paris" survived its first attempt at censorship, brought by a private prosecutor in Bologna in 1972. However, the Bologna Court of Appeals banned, confiscated and destroyed copies of the film. Bertolucci, the films producer, Alberto Grimaldi, Marlon Brando and Maria Schneider, were arrested, recieved two month prison sentences and fined 30,000 lire. The case was retried several times between 1972 and 1976. Prosecutors argued that the work should not be protected as a work of art, the courts agreed, and the ban stood. In Cincinatti, Ohio, the city's chief officer watched the film and declared that it was obscene. Fearing legal action, the theater's director terminated the film's engagement after seven weeks. The film was also placed on the U.S. Catholic Conference's list of condemned films. In England, the film passed through the British Board of Film Censors, however, was brought to trial under the Obscene Publications Act. "Last Tango" was not banned but was forbidden to air on television until the early 1990s.

Results of Incident: The film earned international recognition. Up to 1998, it has not been allowed to show on Italian screens. In 1998 a bill crossed the Italian Parliament that would deny the Censorship Commission the power to ban films.

Description of Incident: Belinskii wrote a vitrolic letter to the Russian writer Nikolai Gogol' discussing his treatise in "Selected Passages." Dostoevskii acquired a copy of the letter and read it allowed to a group of his friends. When officials found out, Dostoevskii was imprisoned and sentenced to death by firing squad.

Results of Incident: Dostoevskii was reprieved shortly before his planned execution. The letter, "Letter to Gogol'" became infamous and was printed throughout Russia. It is said that by the mid-1850s every high school teacher in Russia could recite the letter.

Description of Incident: In May 2004 the Ford and Rockefeller Foundations added statements to their grant contracts with the listed universities that threatens to withdraw funding for any program that promotes "violence, terrorism, bigotry or the destruction of any state." The statement also requires that a grantee shall not "directly of indirectly engage in, promote or support other organizations or individuals who engage in or promote terrorist activity." Academics at these schools fear that the terminology used in the contracts will limit First Amendment freedom pertaining to subjects like Israeli-Palestinian relations. The foundations fear that the money they donate could indirectly support terrorist activites.

Results of Incident: Provosts at nine schools co-signed a letter warning the foundations of potential dangers to their First Amendment rights.

Description of Incident: Radio 101.2 was closed by Lukashenka's officials after one year of broadcasting in Minsk. The station acquired 48% of Minsk's radio listeners. During the November 1996 election campaigns, Lukashenka arranged so that radio coverage "contained nothing that could be considered supportive of the opposition." In August 1996, 101.2 FM was the only private broadcast media station in Belarus. In September 1996 the Ministry of Communication informed the station that it must abandon its frequency for the state-controlled "Radio Style."

Results of Incident: Lukashenka gave "Radio Style" state financial support and 101.2 FM's frequency. Some of 101.2 FM's reporters began broadcasting from Poland, into Belarus.

Description of Incident: In early May, 2004, the Walt Disney Company announced that it will block its subsidiary, Miramax, from distributing Moore's latest film. Disney has declared that, being a family oriented entertainment company, it does not want to be associated with a film that has such strong, partisan political intentions. Some believe that Disney fears it will lose tax breaks from the state of Florida, under the governorship of Jeb Bush. Conservatives criticized Disney in May 2003, when it announced that Miramax would distribute the film.

Results of Incident: "Fahrenheit 911" will premier at the Cannes Film Festival in May 2004 and was scheduled to screen in the United States this summer. The distribution rights for the film will likely go into mediation.

Description of Incident: Behan was well-known for his plays before "Borstal Boy" was banned in Ireland in 1958. It is believed that the Irish Censorship of Publications Board rejected the novel because of its treatment of adolescent sexuality, questionable language, and critiques of Irish republicanism, social attitudes and the Catholic Church. Behan affronts the Irish Republic's religious conservativism and how it affects the nation. The censorship board, however, was never required to explain its decision.

Results of Incident: "Borstal Boy" was banned in Ireland in 1958 and in Australia and New Zealand shortly after. Behan released several other works, mainly plays, because the Censorship of Publications Board had no jurisdiction over theater. He continued to criticize fanatical Irish Republicans.

Description of Incident: In 1773 Beaumarchais was invited to perform "The Barber of Seville" at the Comedie Francaise, however the invitation was retracted and Beaumarchais was imprisoned for satirizing the Duc de Chaulnes. His play "Memoirs" was burned because it contained "scandalous charges" against the magistracy and members of Parlement. "The Barber of Seville" was banned and re-worked several times before it was finally allowed to show in 1775. "The Marriage of Figaro" met similar trouble. It was scheduled to run in 1781, however, King Louis XVI personally declared that the play would never be performed. In 1779 Beaumarchais left France for Germany with the intention of publishing Voltaire's writings. His project was successful, but religious and government officials banned advertising for his collection in France.

Results of Incident: Beaumarchais earned recognition outside of France, however met adversity from bourgeois audiences.

Description of Incident: Beckett's history of censorship lasted throughout his career. In 1934 his play, "More Pricks than Kicks," was banned in Ireland. In 1937 he moved to Paris to escape the censors. A Parisian magazine editted an essay of his in 1953 because it feared prosecution over a reference to a handicapped man's penis. Two of his plays, "Watt" and "Molloy" were banned in Ireland during the 1950s. In response to the cancellation of a planned adaptation of James Joyce's "Ulysses" at the Dublin International Film Festival in 1958, Beckett repealed permission granted to feature his play, "All that Fall." Beckett was forced to change numerous words and scenes in "Waiting for Godot." The words arse, bastard and balls were removed, in addition to scenes that were considered blasphemous by the Lord Chamberlain.

Results of Incident: On some occasions Beckett gave in to the censors, however, he was known for his obstinance against changing his work. Many of Beckett's plays were performed uncut in France, Germany and the United States. In 1967 the Lord Chamberlain lost censorship duties and ,having earned international recognition, Beckett did not suffer from further censorship.

Description of Incident: When John Lennon made his comment about their popularity and that of Christianity, numerous organizations denounced the band. Some ordered the destruction of Beatles merchandise and some radio stations banned their music. The Beatles were forced to change the proposed cover for "'Yesterday' and Today" by the U.S. record label, Capital Records, because it did not support their famed "Mop-top" image. The band was also forced to remove the images of Jesus, Hitler and Ghandi from the proposed cover of "Sergeant Pepper."

Results of Incident: Throughout their career The Beatles have had to defend their image and music for their controversial liberal messages.

Description of Incident: Bayle left France for the Netherlands in 1685, when Louis XIV's government persecuted Protestants and Calvinists. He became a professor of philosophy and history at the University of Rotterdam in 1685, but was dismissed in 1693. His most notable work, "Dictionnaire historique et critique" scrutinizes biblical figures, acknowledging them as "false when refuted by the clear and distinct perception of human reason." His book was placed on the Catholic Church's Index Librorum Prohibitorum in 1698.

Results of Incident: Bayle was allowed to publish a second edition of his book in Holland. There, he was given freedom to express his beliefs and argue with his opponents

Description of Incident: Al-Bayati published "Culture of the Homeland" in 1950 and "Broken Pitchers" in 1953, while teaching at Baghdad Higher Teachers College. His collections offended the press laws passed in 1950, banning "irresponsible criticism of the government." After publishing "Broken Pitchers" he was removed from his position at the teachers college and sentenced to a concentration camp, from which he escaped and went into exile. He returned to Iraq after the revolution in 1958, but was stripped of his citizenship after visiting Egypt, whose policies the Iraqi government opposed, in 1964.

Results of Incident: Al-Bayati returned to Iraq after the Ba'athist Party came to power in 1968. He worked with the Ministry of Culture and Information until his self-exile, in response to the invasion of Kuwait, in 1990.

Description of Incident: In 1936, John Baxter began preparing the screen version of "Love on the Dole." The BBFC thwarted Baxter's attempts, denouncing the film as "very coarse and full of swearwords," showing, "the tragic and sordid side of poverty." Even the play suffered several deletions of "bad language." The BBFC saw the booming cinema industry as merely entertainment and not the proper medium for negative social portayals.

Results of Incident: The BBFC released the ban on the film version of "Love on the Dole" in 1941, suggesting that times had changed and that unemployment was no longer a controversial issue.

Description of Incident: A French critic wrote a contemptuous review of Baudelaire's seminal collection, "The Flowers of Evil," in July 1857. Shortly after, Baudelaire was accused of violating French morality law. His poems were described as "odious, vile and filthy." The French court found Baudelaire guilty; judges restricted six poems from his collection and imposed a fine of 300 Francs.

Results of Incident: Baudelaire was able to mitigate the fine to 50 Francs. His situation inspired a movement to give writers more literary freedom that did not pass in the French Senate until after World War II.

Description of Incident: The American Company was the first permanent theater company in America. Its director, David Douglass, cancelled the production of "The Disappointment" after recieving complaints from local Quakers and Presbyterians. They suggested that the play contained "personal reflections...unfit for the stage." Early critics believed that the play was rife with "coarseness and immorality." "The Disappointment" was the first play produced by an American author.

Results of Incident: The play was removed from the theater company's schedule. Douglass had planned more original plays though none became popular.

Description of Incident: British film censors refused the play because of the references to the operation, the abortion and the political setting. "Waste" was banned before its first public performance in 1907. The Examiner of Plays refused to issue a license to Barker after witnessing a private performance.

Results of Incident: The initial ban set off an anti-censorship campaign in which 71 British directors appealed to Parliament to change censorship laws and create a joint committee on censorship. The ban on "Waste" was repealed in 1936.