The Comic Book Legal Defense Fund has been aiding cartoonist Stuart Helm in his battle against a lawsuit filed by Kraft Foods. For years, Helm signed his work "King VelVeeda," and Kraft finally decided this was an infringement on their trademark. They have this alleged cheese called "Velveeta" and…well, you get the picture. After many months of headaches and legal expenses, Helm and Kraft have settled out of court with the artist agreeing to change his pen name. Here's the C.B.L.D.F. press release about it — and I must say that, though I am a fervent supporter of this most necessary institution and will continue to support it, I think the C.B.L.D.F. went astray on this one. There is no threat to my Free Speech if I am unable to market my work under a name that sounds a lot like someone else's trademark.
Yes, I know it's a parody. And if someone was putting out a MAD Magazine style ad spoofing Velveeta, and Kraft sued, that would be worth going to the mat over. But I don't buy the notion, expressed in the press release, that Helm was censored, any more than I'm being censored because I can't publish my own Star Wars comics. The folks at Kraft were being needlessly, almost inanely protective but I don't see this as a First Amendment threat.
For emphasis: I still wholeheartedly support the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund and think it's vital to have them there, fighting the good fight. I just don't think this was a good fight.