HOW THE COOKIES CRUMBLED
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When we talked with underground cartoonist Stuart Helm last May, he was getting ready to fight a temporary injunction that would force him to wipe his professional name, King VelVeeda, from his Web site (cheesygraphics.com) and stop signing it on his art. The injunction was sought by Kraft Foods, which was suing Helm for infringing on their Velveeta trademark, claiming “pornography, bestiality, and negative attitudes toward women” in his work were damaging their product’s image. In June a U.S. district court judge ruled against him. “The injunction was upheld, and I had to take my name off my Web site,” Helm says. “In the meantime we were gearing up for the real trial. Kraft kept serving us with papers. They told my lawyers they would spend whatever it took [to litigate]. At a point where I was pretty beaten down by the whole thing, they asked if I wanted to settle out of court. Comic Book Legal Defense Fund [which was paying for his defense] was embroiled in other cases, and I was getting an ulcer over it.” Last week Helm made a deal. He agreed to give up the VelVeeda name (“I can’t even write it on a piece of paper”), and Kraft agreed to donate money to a charity of his choice. Helm suggested himself, but they balked; they wouldn’t donate to the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund either, he says. They finally agreed on $10,000 for the Freedom to Read Foundation. Considering they were willing to spend whatever it took in court, Helm says, “I think they cheaped out on the money.”
Roosevelt Back in Business
