'50 Shades of Grey' Publisher -- Library Bans Are Unconstitutional

The publisher behind the steamy New York Times bestseller "50 Shades of Grey" is coming out swinging against libraries that have banned the book -- claiming the censorship violates readers' First Amendment rights.

A rep for Random House tells TMZ, the publishing house "fervently opposes literary censorship and supports the First Amendment rights of readers to make their own reading choices."

The book, in case you don't know, is about a man and his sex slave in Seattle -- hooray! -- and libraries in Georgia, Wisconsin, and Florida have already banned it due to its racy content.

But sexually deviant or not, the book is still a book -- at least according to the rep at Random House, who says, "We believe the Brevard County Public Library System [in Florida] is indulging in an act of censorship, and essentially is saying to library patrons: we will judge what you can read."

The rep adds, "These events resonate as unfortunately considered decisions, especially as the actions withdraw from circulation a book with one of the highest demand curves in recent history."