At Anthony Pellicano's sentencing yesterday, former LA Times and Variety reporter Anita Busch read a long statement to Pellicano in court. Variety included an excerpt in its coverage, but if you'd like to read the whole thing, click here. It's a humdinger:

I was new to the paper, but you weren’t. And you USED the relationships you had there against me. You made sure my newspaper didn’t believe me so behind the scenes you could ruin my employment just like you and your clients did to other victims.

The day you were arrested, that’s when the cover-up began at my newspaper. To this day their own reporters, editors and readers don’t know the truth. And while you and your lawyers cried crocodile tears about media leaks, (Chuck) Philips – a reporter you helped for years – wrote story after story against the government’s case. Information FED to him by your defense team. And because the men whose job it was to put an end to your criminal activity were now your targets – Dan Saunders and Stan Ornellas – your pal Philips wrote stories smearing their integrity.

And, of course, those stories were then approved by the same newspaper lawyer who looked to you for help. And this is just one example of how you and your clients used the media as a weapon.

Your convicted co-conspirator, Mr. Kachikian, even worked for the L.A. Times.

Of note: The LA Times' coverage of the sentencing initially disregarded Busch's existence, both to the case and her presence in court. The paper later revised its story to include her, but there was still no acknowledgment that she'd ever worked at the LA Times. Here it is, in total:

Pellicano’s troubles began in 2002, when a reporter who wrote negative articles about former Hollywood super agent Michael Ovitz went to authorities after she found a dead fish, a rose and a note saying “Stop” inside the smashed windshield of her car.

The reporter, Anita Busch, told the judge Monday that Pellicano’s intimidation and wiretapping were like “death by a thousand cuts.”

God knows, Busch garnered her detractors over the years. But, guys? Your paper has already filed for bankruptcy; please make an effort not to further hasten its demise. [Patterico]

The Wall Street Journal has assembled what surely must be the most exhaustive chart to date of those affected by Bernard Madoff's $50 billion Ponzi scheme. It's broken down by investor, who or what they are, how much is at risk and commentary that helps place the would-be loss in perspective. The image below is just a portion; click here for the whole tragic thing. [WSJ] Also: click here for the SEC's court order against Madoff; and, God forbid, click here to file a claim. And click here if you want to hear me talk about the case on KNX 1070.

RELATED:

• It may take six months to unravel Madoff's "utterly unreliable" financial records [HuffPo]

Today would have been the 83rd birthday of Sammy Davis, Jr., who was more than $7 million in debt when he died 18 years ago. How that happened is the story of Matt Birkbeck's "Deconstructing Sammy: Music, Money, Madness, and the Mob;" what follows are new developments in how, his children claim, his legacy was lost and why they may be able to reclaim it.

Two months before legendary entertainer Sammy Davis Jr. died from throat cancer in May 1990, his manager Shirley Rhodes and three others walked into his room at Cedar's Sinai Hospital in Los Angeles, told bodyguard Brian Dellow to leave, and closed the door behind them.  When they emerged some ten minutes later, Brian walked in and saw his terminally ill employer staring aimlessly out the window.

"What was that about?" said Brian.

Sammy said it was nothing, but Brian knew otherwise.

Years later Brian, a former British intelligence officer, relayed that story during a lengthy interview I had with him in July 2007.

"What was that about?" I asked Brian.

"They changed Sammy’s will,” he said matter-of-factly.

That will, which was probated in August 1990, named Rhodes and Sammy’s Cleveland-based attorney John Climaco as co-executors of Sammy’s estate. It also gave rights to Sammy’s “name and likeness” to his troubled widow Altovise, while leaving no provisions for Sammy’s three children. 

Following Sammy’s death, Climaco and Rhodes oversaw the dismantling of the estate, selling Sammy’s Beverly Hills mansion and auctioning what was left of personal possessions that weren’t looted from his home before and after he died. In addition, nearly $4 million in insurance money disappeared.

But Sammy’s $5 million IRS tax bill – in part the result of a Climaco-created tax shelter the U.S. Tax Court ruled was fraudulent – remained, and the sale of the home and possessions failed to put a dent in the massive debt, which left the IRS no choice but to take ownership of Sammy’s name and likeness and declare his estate insolvent. 

Altovise ended up living in poverty in Pennsylvania while Sammy’s rich legacy never recovered. 

Today, because of the tax debt, the man who was arguably the greatest entertainer of the 20th Century remains a distant memory while the multi-million dollar estates of other dead legends, including Elvis, Frank Sinatra and Dean Martin, continue to thrive.

The story of Sammy’s tragic demise is told in my book, “Deconstructing Sammy,” which reports the numerous allegations by Brian Dellow and others close to Sammy of malfeasance and fraud perpetrated by his handlers, as well as the heroic efforts of a Pennsylvania attorney, Albert “Sonny” Murray, Jr., to right the wrongs that befell Sammy and his legacy.   

Murray, a former federal prosecutor who put E.F. Hutton out of business for check kiting in the 1980’s, subsequently spent seven years representing Altovise, ultimately settling Sammy’s debts, restoring his legacy, and getting Sammy his one and only Grammy Award (posthumously) in 2001. 

Unfortunately, even when fighting the good fight to restore a legend such as Sammy Davis Jr. to his rightful place in American culture, the care and respect shown by Murray counted little next to the forces that took Sammy’s legacy down in the first place, greed and more greed.

Altovise, wishing a return to her once glamorous life, replaced Murray in 2001 with managers whose only success was a Sammy Davis Jr. bobble-head doll. In the meantime, Murray’s IRS settlement was ignored, and Sammy’s estate again fell into tax hell, precluding once again any use of his name and likeness. 

But on the eve of what would have been Sammy’s 83rd birthday on Dec. 8, there is hope that Sammy could rise again.

Heads up, everyone: Financing movies? If you're doing it because you like premiere invitations, that's a great idea. If you're doing it because you like money, gee... maybe try one of those nice CD accounts? Four investment groups with names that suggest they should know better (Allianz Risk Transfer, Marathon Structured Finance Fund LP, Newstar Financial, Munich Capital Markets) are suing Paramount Pictures, saying they lost their entire $40.1 million investment "by misrepresenting the risks of a private placement offering to finance Paramount movies.... Plaintiffs say Paramount induced them to invest by lying about its risk mitigation and/or by changing its risk mitigation techniques without informing them." The companies were part of Melrose Investors, a group of hedge funds that put up 18% of the capital for 26 consecutive Paramount movies in 2004 and 2005; in return, they were supposed to receive 18% of the money Paramount made from the movies.

The mark of a classy company? When you click on a link to its website, you get a bogus come-on for spyware. That's the howdy you get at Moda Entertainment, "a full-service entertainment company" now being sued by Stephen Humprey Bogart (one and the same) for cheating "him of $340,000 (and) paying him for only 2 months for more than 3 years of work." Once you're on the site (not recommended; that spyware popup is persistent), it still takes some digging to figure out exactly what Moda does:

"It is because of MODA’s business model that the company today does not have any of the requirements, cost factors and overhead that accompany the traditional structure in the industry."

Wow; it's almost like they don't exist at all! As best as I can tell, Moda makes deals with the estates of deceased actors like Humphrey Bogart, Donna Reed and Judy Garland for licensing opportunities. I'd imagine there's some money in that; best of luck, Mr. Bogart, in extracting it. [CNS]

OK, John McCain, we get it: You'll never be president, but you are and always will be The Angriest Man In The World. In August, Jackson Browne sued McCain for using his song "Running On Empty" without permission. This week, Eriq Gardner reports, McCain responded with two 20-page motions: one's to dismiss the charge under "fair use," the second is to collect attorney fees and other costs under a statute that defines Browne's case as a SLAPP, or a "strategic lawsuit against public participation" -- in other words, it's the hippie who's the free-speech bad guy. Well played, McCain. [THR]

RELATED in HAL

• Jackson Browne sues the Republican Party
• John McCain continues to use songs without permission
• John McCain: Country first, artists last?
• Even dead musicians don't want to be associated with John McCain

There's always been something inherently offensive about the Bratz line -- something to do with selling pre-prepubescents a toy that struts and preens like a Pussycat Doll -- but my disdain has nothing on Mattel's. The Barbie doll manufacturer wants "all Bratz products impounded and destroyed" as the next step in its $100 million copyright infringement lawsuit. In August, a federal jury ruled that Bratz designer Carter Bryant "came up with the edgy concept while working for Mattel. The same jury later awarded Mattel $10 million for copyright infringement and $90 million for breach of contract." However, Bratz manufacturer MGA Entertainment says it no longer produces the first-generation dolls and should be allowed to continue selling its more than 40 Bratz characters and spinoffs. Lionsgate released "Bratz: The Movie" last year as the launch of a would-be franchise; however, it earned less than $10 million. [AP]

Daryl Hall and John Oates have filed a lawsuit in Manhattan Supreme Court, claiming that publisher Warner/Chappell Music "failed to protect their rights" to their 1982 hit "Maneater." The complaint, Samuel Maull writes, centers on "an unidentified singer-songwriter" who used the song in a 2006 recording. (HAL notes that was the year Nelly Furtado covered the song on her Geffen Records album, "Loose.") Warner refused to sue for copyright infringement, so now Hall & Oates are suing Warner for "unspecified money damages." They also want to terminate their Warner/Chappell agreement. [AP]

Sam Moore, as in soul music's Sam & Dave, is seeking "significant" compensation as well a disclaimer distancing him from the upcoming Weinstein Co. comedy "Soul Men," which stars Samuel L. Jackson and Bernie Mac. Moore describes the script as based on "a defamatory account of a reunion that he and the late Dave Prater attempted in 1982" and tells Guy Adams that the film is "sexist, racist, and embarrassing, and that's not what Sam & Dave were about.... The Weinstein Company says the film's fiction. In that case, I'd like them to tell me what part's supposed to be fiction. I'd like them to tell me which two black soul musicians, signed to Stax Records, who worked with Isaac Hayes, it's meant to portray." Attorney Bert Fields, who reps the Weinstein Co., told Adams: " 'Soul Men' is not, in any part or respect, based on Mr. Moore's life. It tells a different story about different people. If Mr. Moore decides to file a lawsuit, he will lose." [The Independent]

RELATED

• Review: "Soul Men" is "by no means a movie to cherish... (but) a respectable coda to Mac’s legacy" [Variety]

"Hannah Montana" executive producer Michael Poryes is suing Disney for an amount "in excess of" $1 million, claiming that the studio breached contract and misappropriated his rights. Credited as the series' co-creator, Poryes says he has the right "to make and market Hannah Montana merchandise, films, books, video games, concerts and the like" and that he "granted some of these rights to defendants in exchange for a percentage of their earnings and he retained the remaining rights for himself." Click here to read the complaint, which includes excerpts from Poryes' Disney contract. [Courthouse News Service]

Warner Bros. screened 25 minutes of "The Watchmen" Wednesday night for "select press" and the fanboys have responded rapturously in kind. Devin Faraci at CHUD gives his entry the headline ZACK SNYDER APPEARS TO HAVE NAILED WATCHMEN , while "Frosty" at Collider launches his review with "all I can say is…wow!" (He also uploaded an MP3 of director Zack Snyder's opening remarks.) Six weeks ago, Snyder also screened the film for fanboy/fellow director Kevin Smith, who posted his rave review on his MySpace blog, calling the film "fucking astounding." Of course, the film is still under the cloud of a lawsuit from 20th Century Fox seeking to block the film's release, but even the judge on the case likes what he's seen of the film: Michael Cieply reports in the New York Times that a hearing transcript includes federal judge Gary A. Fees' admission that he liked the film's trailer “a lot,” but that if Fox wins the trial, “they’re going to get an injunction, in all likelihood.”

>> RELATED: Snyder says there will be a "300" sequel/prequel [IESB]

Steve Kaplan sued New York's AMC-Lincoln Square Cinema in small claims court for $1,250 in restitution for the dental work necessary after he broke a tooth on an unpopped kernel and argued that the theater had a duty to remove such kernels or warn patrons of their likelihood. However, Civil Court Judge Matthew F. Cooper wrote, "Until such time as the same bio-engineers who brought us seedless watermelon are able to develop a new strain of popping corn where every kernel is guaranteed to pop, we will just have to accept partially popped popcorn as part and parcel of the popcorn popping process." Writes Matthew Heller, "Cooper evidently relished analyzing the case, saying it 'involves the great gastronomic/cinematic tradition of eating popcorn at the movies.' " [On Point]

The man who wrote "Win With the Rebels" -- fight song for the University of Nevada, Las Vegas -- is suing Electronic Arts for using the music without permission on games such as "NCAA Basketball," "NCAA Football" and "NCAA March Madness." Songwriter Gerald Willis, who says he copyrighted the song in 1990, wants $150,000 per infringement and the destruction of the offending games. [Courthouse News]

Music licensing firm TRF Music is suing the companies and the CEOs of A&E Television, Discovery, Fox, Disney, Lifetime Entertainment, Hearst, Amazon.com, among others, for $6.6 million, claiming they have violated copyrights on more than 50,000 "music cues," or background music. The federal complaint also demands that the infringing recordings be destroyed. [Courthouse News Service]
>> RELATED: Man claims MTV used audition tape as TV theme music [CNS]

Activision bought a synchronization license to the Romantics' '80s hit "What I Like About You," but the band filed a lawsuit when they found the result (used on "Guitar Hero Encore Rocks the 80s") to be too close to the real thing. However, U.S. District Judge Nancy G. Edmund disagreed in a summary judgment that thew out the suit, noting that the band “failed to establish that their 'sound' is distinctive.” The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals has upheld publicity rights claims involving the “distinctive” voices of singers Bette Midler and Tom Waits. [On Point News]

Susan Berg's Global Music Group bid $24M for the label catalog in June, but trustees representing Death Row and founder Marion "Suge" Knight Jr. voided the deal when the money didn't materialize, writes Brian Garrity. A Global Music lawyer says it's all negotiating tactics. There's also court papers detailing fights with rival investor groups that include double crossing and, of course, death threats. [New York Post]

Bob Yari Productions owes $1.3 million to U.K. distributor Momentum, according to a lawsuit filed in Los Angeles Federal Court. The suit claims that BYP sold Momentum distribution rights to two pics: "Resurrecting the Champ" starring Samuel L. Jackson, and "Man on a Ledge," with John Travolta attached to star. Momentum says the deal allowed it to return "Champ" distribution rights to BYP if it failed to produce the Travolta pic, with BYP then responsible for repaying the minimum guarantee and other expenses. "Man on a Ledge" was never made and, according to the suit, BYP "has offered no legitimate excuse for its failure to honor its promises." As for "Champ," which has not been released in the U.K., the film earned $70K overseas. See the suit here.  [Courthouse News]