‘Fair and Balanced’ Views of Fox News’ Suit

Re “Don’t Use Those Words: Fox News Owns Them,” by Jack Balkin, Commentary, Aug. 14:

Though I certainly hope that Al Franken prevails in the frivolous lawsuit aimed at blocking his use of the words “fair and balanced” in his upcoming book’s title, there are worse things that could happen for him than losing this battle.

After all, it is unlikely that anything Franken has come up with for his book could more effectively demonstrate how out of control the right wing has become than to black out the disputed words and simply replace them with the phrase “Censored due to legal action by Fox News.”

Eric Holck

West Hollywood

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Balkin believes that it would be a “good first step” if the court threw out Fox News’ trademark lawsuit against Franken for Franken’s use of “fair and balanced” in the title of his forthcoming book. But it would be a better first step if the court went even further and awarded Franken substantial damages for Fox’s abuse of process.

Alec Frank

Playa del Rey