Wal-Mart not amused by lampoon

PITTSBURGH – A college student had to redesign his Web site that parodied a foundation run by Wal-Mart after the retail giant complained he violated copyright law by using the foundation’s own graphics.

Daniel Papasian said he shut down his site – http://www.walmart-foundation.org/ – and replaced the offending graphics with the word “censored” after lawyers for Wal-Mart Stores sent his Web host a cease-and-desist order last week.

He acknowledged using Wal-Mart’s graphics but said he believed he could use the images as part of a parody of the firm and its policies.

Wal-Mart maintained Papasian violated copyright law by improperly using images from the real Wal-Mart Foundation’s site, http://www.walmartfoundation.org/.

Wal-Mart spokesman Kevin Thornton said the Bentonville, Ark., company needed to protect its name.

“When you pretend to be someone that you’re not, that could lead to a problem,” Thornton said.

Papasian, 20, launched the Web site April 16 for an art class at Carnegie Mellon University that teaches the political uses of satire in the media.

“If anyone believed it to be a real Wal-Mart site, that is only a testament to the degree of absurdity that exists within corporate America today,” Papasian says on his revamped Web site.