Morris Ernst was an ACLU attorney who challenged other high-profile book bans during the period. He found a cooperative publisher and hatched the plan to import a copy of the book from France and have it seized by customs, although the getting it seized was more difficult than anticipated.

> A few days later the book showed up at Random House—it had passed through customs. Furious, Ernst personally marched the package over to the customs office and demanded that it be searched. When the inspector opened it and found Ulysses, he muttered, “Oh, for God’s sake, everybody brings that in. We don’t pay attention to it.” Ernst insisted that he seize it. On May 8, the book was officially seized by customs.

In lieu of the usual fees, he would receive 5% of the book royalties should it be legalized and published (not a bad deal).

More backstory here: https://crimereads.com/banned-books-ulysses-joyce-morris-ern...

Some books were banned in the US and US agents helped get its shipments burned, so censorship continued until a very recent time: ' until now no American publisher has dared re-release the book, which sold over a million copies worldwide and has been translated into seventeen languages. A devastating indictment of a media giant, a document of twentieth-century political upheaval, and a reminder of the dark undercurrent of pop culture, How to Read Donald Duck is once again available, together with a new introduction by Ariel Dorfman. https://www.orbooks.com/catalog/donald-duck/

> As seizure by Customs was essential to the plan for a test case, Morris Ernst, the attorney for Random House, took the unopened package to Customs, demanded that it be seized, and it was.

I plan to do that for a few causes I have in mind. I didn't realize others had done it too, thats a great example.

I think it is tragic that the only way to challenge a law's constitutionality or force is to break it. I think there need to be several other ways to bring a law before the courts.