NEW YORK (CNN) - I've been bemused lately by the spat between the Fox News Network and Al Franken, the liberal satirist who has written a new book, titled, "Lies and the Lying Liars Who Tell Them: A Fair and Balanced Look at the Right."

Pay attention to the words "fair and balanced." That's the slogan Fox uses to describe its approach to the news.

Some people might quibble with that description, or even poke fun at it, as Franken does. But it's serious business to Fox, which registered "fair and balanced" as a trademark in 1998. And so when Fox heard about Franken's book, it filed suit against him and his publisher, Dutton, to force them to remove those words from the title of the book. A Federal judge has set oral arguments on the case for Friday.

That's the background.

What brings the issue to my mind right now is a satirical piece that appeared Tuesday on the op-ed page of the New York Times, titled "Paul Newman Is Still HUD."

The author was none other than Paul Newman, the actor, whose characterization of the title role in the 1963 movie "Hud" won him an Academy Award nomination.

With tongue firmly in cheek, Newman spoofs the Fox lawsuit, claiming that he plans to sue the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, commonly called HUD, for what he calls, "piracy of personality and copy-cat infringement."

Newman takes an unusual approach. He says, "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."

He then makes a rather novel claim, asserting that what he calls "innocence by association" has hurt both his feelings and his residuals.

No matter how anyone may feel about this case -- and there could be First Amendment ramifications -- you have to admit that Newman's piece is clever, especially for a guy who makes a really good salad dressing.

According to the Los Angeles Times, Fox was pushed to file suit by its number one personality, Bill O'Reilly, who got into a heated verbal contretemps with Franken at a book industry convention last May. That exchange, which convention-goers called a highlight of the meeting, was carried live on C-SPAN and was shown on other cable outlets. Also, O'Reilly's picture is on the cover of Franken's book.

All the publicity the suit has generated has sent interest in the book skyrocketing, and Dutton has increased the initial printing and accelerated the release date. So Franken may have the last laugh, no matter what the court rules.