CBLDF Defends "King VelVeeda" against Kraft Foods!

Earlier this year Chicago cartoonist Stu Helm got slapped with some offensive orders from the Kraft Foods Corporation. The stink is over Helm's nickname 'King VelVeeda,' a pseudonym he's been signing comics work under for more than 12 years. Kraft got wind of it late last year by clicking onto Helm's Website Cheesygraphics.com. Believing that Helm's nickname cut too close to their 'cheese' trademark "Velveeta," they phoned Stu at the end of January 2002 and asked him to stop using the nickname. "I honestly thought the phone call could be a joke," Helm says, "until I got some written response I couldn't take their request seriously." So on January 31, Kraft sent Helm the first letter on a paper trail that has lead all the way to the courtroom.

"It took me a while to respond to their letter," Helm explains, "when I did respond I said I didn't see anything wrong or illegal about what I was doing." Kraft saw it differently and on March 21 filed a complaint accusing Helm of Trademark Dilution and Trademark Infringement. Helm was dumbstruck by the suit. "When they sent the cease and desist, I thought my answer would be good enough," Helm said. "If it wasn't I was ready to go to the next step, which turned out to be a summons."

Helm jumped into building a defense and represented himself against Kraft's legal team before Judge Guzman and Magistrate Keys. He also filed his own paperwork, which argued that his nickname is harmless to Kraft and that his use of it is well within his First Amendment rights. On April 21 Kraft turned up the heat and zapped Stu with a request for Preliminary Injunction, which would prevent him from using the nickname before and during the trial.

Though he'd been holding his own in the preliminary hearings, Stu's limited resources were rapidly running dry fighting Kraft's legal machine. Finding himself in above his head, Helm called the CBLDF for help. "We heard from Stu shortly after Kraft filed their Preliminary Injunction request and two days later he was sitting in the office of our legal counsel going over the case," reveals CBLDF Executive Director Charles Brownstein.

The Fund's attorney Burton Joseph and his partner Ken Levinson dug right in, spending the entire afternoon helping Stu build a battle plan. "Burton and Ken were really friendly and they took my case seriously," Helm says. "They had already been to my Website and downloaded my papers and they were impressed by my argument and by my way to articulate my case. They believed in it from my First Amendment point of view."

"Stu's case is significant because a two billion dollar corporation is trying to push the envelope in restricting the use of anything that resembles or ridicules a trademark," Joseph explains with a hint of indignation in his voice. He continues, "Kraft's complaint alleges that Stuart Helm's Website cheesygraphics.com, which averaged about 350 hits a day by use of the designation 'King VelVeeda's Cheesygraphics' diminished or diluted the value of the Velveeta pasteurized processed cheese food that they sell."

Ironically, the case has brought more attention to Helm's Website than it had prior to a complaint being filed. "This lawsuit has increased the daily visits to around 2,000 per day," Joseph explains, adding, "that number that will undoubtedly increase as this corporate power tries to silence a talented comic book artist and graphic designer."

Helm, Joseph, and the CBLDF see larger implications in Kraft's suit, and feel it's an important fight. "The law is in a state of flux with regard to trademark dilution, so it is more important than ever to protect the First Amendment rights of comic book creators who poke fun at the symbols of our popular culture," explains attorney and CBLDF Board Member Louise Nemschoff. "Claims such as the ones brought by Kraft against alternative comic book creator Stu Helm have a tendency to chill freedom of expression when it comes to such jokes, parody and commentary," Nemschoff adds.

Helm says, "Even though it seems like a small issue because it is a silly nickname, I feel that it's so far removed from the actual product that if I go down, it opens the door for a lot more action against a lot more people. It's a big issue. If it can happen to me -- and I'm so far removed from the product -- that sets a bad precedent."

Joseph feels Helm's case reveals "the importance of the Internet as a means of communication. The ability of artists and cartoonists to reach a large public in spite of the lack of resources apparently is making brands of companies skittish about satire, parody, and what they see is diminution of the value of their brand." He wryly adds, "Nobody's ever accused them of having a sense of humor."

But their sense of humor isn't so important as their legal claims, which the Fund is fighting tooth and nail. "We are hoping first that the court will deny Kraft's request for a preliminary injunction and will ultimately rule that Kraft cannot prove any dilution of its trademark by the artist's nickname of King VelVeeda," Joseph says. "We're very confident, but the ultimate decision will depend on a case now pending before the U.S. Supreme Court, Mosely d.b.a. Victor's Little Secret v. Secret Catalog Inc. (Victoria's Secret), and also whether Kraft's arguments are mere speculation or grounded in some evidence or genuine concern of market confusion. The facts seem highly dubious from Kraft's standpoint that any visitor to cheesygraphics.com would confuse King VelVeeda with Velveeta pasteurized processed cheese food."

While both Helm and the Fund are optimistic, no one is under any illusions that this will be a cheap or easy battle. "It's cases like this where the community's support of the Fund matters the most," says CBLDF Executive Director Charles Brownstein. "Without our involvement Kraft could have steamrolled Stu into bankruptcy simply because they have more money and lawyers. We believe that Stu Helm is well within his First Amendment rights and are committed to defending them, despite the monstrous expense ahead of us. That's what the Fund was set up to do and this is what every membership and donation dollar goes into making happen."

Helm is grateful for the Fund's involvement in his case, but it's a hassle he never wanted. "I haven't tried to cut into their market by mimicking anything they do," Helm says. "I made a good name for myself doing what I do best which is my art and I just want to be left alone to do that." With the comics community's continued support of the Fund's legal efforts, he will hopefully soon be able to do just that.

Click Here to Support the CBLDF, including the defense of Stu Helm, or send donations to PO Box 693, Northampton, MA 01061-0693.

To read Helm's journal of the case and official papers visit http://www.cheesygraphics.com/castle_hassle.html.