Starbucks Corporation, icon of consumer consumption and corporate expansion, has sued a San Francisco cartoonist because he had the temerity to create a parody of the Starbucks logo that mocked Starbucks and its business practices.

The parody logo created by cartoonist Kieron Dwyer kept the same circular design of the Starbucks logo, and the same green, black and white color scheme, with a woman in the middle. However, instead of saying "Starbucks Coffee," it says "Consumer Whore." The former-mermaid now sports nipples, a navel ring, a jeweled crown and multiple-braceleted arms, in which she is holding a cell phone and a cup of coffee. The stars in the original logo have all turned into dollar signs. Beneath the parody logo are the words "Buy More Now." Dwyer put the logo on t-shirts and issue 0 of his comic book, LCD:Lowest Comic Denominator (self-published, in association with Fogelcomix). In addition, he sold the comics, shirts, and some stickers on his website http://www.LCDcomic.com and through his comic books, LCD and Black Heart Billy (published by SLG).

Dwyer is a 13 year veteran of the comicbook industry, having worked for most of the major comics publishers at one time or another, and venturing into the self- and small-press-publishing arenas over the last few years. Among other things, his mainstream comics work has included extended stints on such characters as Superman and Captain America, each icons of American values such as freedom of expression.

Parody has long been recognized as a form of constitutionally protected speech and parodists have been given broad latitude to "borrow" from original creations of others in order to parody them.

Starbucks apparently failed to see the humor in the parody. It filed a lawsuit and obtained a Temporary Restraining Order from Judge Maxine Chesney temporarily restraining the manufacture, sale or display of the logo. However, the logo can still be found on some other sites. USE YOUR SEARCH ENGINES AND YOUR IMAGINATION, CONSUMER WHORE, AND PERHAPS YOU'LL FIND IT!

The court has set a hearing for Friday May 26th, at 9:00 a.m. in Courtroom 2, 17th floor, 450 Golden Gate Avenue to consider Starbucks' application for a preliminary injunction against Mr. Dwyer.

In the action, entitled Starbucks v. Dwyer, Case no. C 00 1499 MMC (United States District Court, Northern District of California), Starbucks claims that the parody logo infringes the Starbucks copyright in its logo, infringes the Starbucks trademark in its logo, tarnishes the Starbucks logo and violates California unfair competition laws.

Dwyer has retained Andrew M. Gold of Bogatin, Corman & Gold to defend him. For further information, contact Mr. Gold at (415) 982-5530.