Een prachtig rechtbankdrama speelt zich op dit moment af in Amerika, waar anders. De komiek Al Franken — mij onbekend, maar schijnbaar van Saturday Night Live fame — is aangeklaagd door de Fox televisiezender omdat hij de tekst “Fair and Balanced” in de titel van zijn nieuwe boek gebruikt; deze tekst is blijkbaar wettelijk eigendom van Fox.

Tot zover de droge feiten. Nu schijnt acteur Paul Newman ook een rechtszaak begonnen te zijn. Het nieuwsbericht:

Unreliable sources report that the Fox suit has inspired Paul Newman, the actor, to file a similar suit in federal court against the Department of Housing and Urban Development, commonly called HUD. Mr. Newman claims piracy of personality and copycat infringement.

In the 1963 film “HUD,” for which Mr. Newman was nominated for an Academy Award, the ad campaign was based on the slogan, “Paul Newman is HUD.” Mr. Newman claims that the Department of Housing and Urban Development, called HUD, is a fair and balanced institution and that some of its decency and respectability has unfairly rubbed off on his movie character, diluting the rotten, self-important, free-trade, corrupt conservative image that Mr. Newman worked so hard to project in the film. His suit claims that this “innocence by association” has hurt his feelings plus residuals.

CBS News: CBS News | Franken-Fox Court Date Set | August 19, 2003 13:56:48
New York Times: Paul Newman Is Still HUD