DOCUMENT: Crime

"Hero" Videographer Sues Jackson

Claims King of Pop stiffed him on bills, Bashir footage

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"Hero" Videographer Sues Jackson

DECEMBER 20--A California videographer whose home was raided last year as part of the Michael Jackson child molestation probe has sued the King of Pop for fraud and copyright infringement. Hamid Moslehi, 37, contends that he is owed more than $100,000 for his work as Jackson's private photographer (he shot video and still images of the singer, his family, and the Neverland estate). In a U.S. District Court complaint filed last week in Los Angeles, Moslehi also claims that Jackson and codefendant Marc Schaffel never compensated him for crucial video that was used in two videos produced by Team Jacko (and which aired last year on Fox) as a rebuttal to Martin Bashir's damaging "Living with Michael Jackson" documentary. He is seeking in excess of $1 million for the use of that footage. Moslehi's camera was running while Bashir interviewed Jackson and lavished praise on the performer's parenting skills. Moslehi said that when he told Schaffel and other Jackson representatives that he had footage of Bashir fawning over Jackson and contradicting claims later made in his BBC documentary, he was hailed as a "hero." However, in his complaint, excerpts of which you'll find below, Moslehi alleged that he was never credited in the two Fox productions, nor has he received any royalties for the use of the Bashir footage. Last November, on the same day agents raided Neverland, Moslehi's suburban Los Angeles home was searched by investigators who reportedly left with various videotapes. Schaffel, who helped produce the Bashir rebuttal videos and himself sued Jackson last month, also had his home searched last November. (12 pages)