Cartoonist Jeph Jacques says he doesn’t understand all the long faces at retail giant Walmart over his use of an image of a horse outside one of the chain’s stores.

Jacques said his walmart.horse domain is an example of “postmodern Dadaism” but Walmart lawyers call it trademark infringement and have ordered him to cease and desist.

“I would argue that Walmart.horse is an obvious parody and therefore falls under fair use,” the Massachusetts-based creator of the Questionable Content comic strip told the Star in an email. “Publicly available images of a horse, a Walmart store, and comical music make it clear that the site is meant to be a joke.

“I would be happy to provide a disclaimer on the website explicitly stating this. If you have any requests for other animals you would like to see added to the image on the website, I would happily comply!” Jacques said, feeling his oats.

Walmart did not reply to the Star on Wednesday morning when asked what it plans to do next in its attempt to rein Jacques in.

He said Walmart also hasn’t responded to his offer to add a disclaimer and/or other animals to his site.

On the weekend, Walmart sent him a legal notice calling on him to hold his horses.

“The Domain Name incorporates the well known Walmart mark in its entirety, and, by its very composition, suggests Walmart’s sponsorship or endorsement of your website and correspondingly, your activities,” the legal notice states.

“Your use of a Domain Name that incorporates the famous Walmart mark constitutes trademark infringement and dilution of Walmart’s trademark rights and unfair competition.

“Your use of our mark in the Domain Name is diluting use because it weakens the ability of the Walmart mark and domain name to identify a single source, namely Walmart. Further, your registration and use of the Domain Name misleads consumers into believing that some association exists between Walmart and you, which tarnishes the goodwill and reputation of Walmart’s products, services, and trademarks.”

The legal notice calls upon Jacques to “immediately and permanently refrain from any use of the term Walmart or any variation thereof that is likely to cause confusion or dilution.”

Jacques said he has adopted a wait-and-see attitude in the attempt to geld his art.

“I honestly wasn’t sure they would ever notice,” Jacques wrote. “It’s just a domain name and a single image! I figured if they DID find it they would make some sort of attempt to take it down, but I wasn’t expecting the email to be full of specious arguments about ‘diluting the walmart brand’ and ‘confusing walmart consumers.’ ”

Jacques said he doesn’t know what to expect next from Walmart’s stable of lawyers.

“It’s possible they decided it’s not worth the trouble, or I suppose they could be mounting a more aggressive stance, or they simply may not have gotten around to it yet,” Jacques said.

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He said his initial reaction to the legal naysayers was “pure, unadulterated glee.”

“It was hilarious!” he said. “Once I sent in my reply there was a moment of “haha, I sure hope this doesn’t RUIN MY LIFE” but that passed quickly.”

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