And the Oscar for heavy-handed litigation goes...

And the Oscar for heavy-handed litigation goes to . . . The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences!

We’ll wait for the applause to subside.

Yes, the academy has sued North Hollywood candy maker Frank Sheftel for violating its copyright by selling pieces of chocolate that were “strikingly similar to the ‘Oscar statuette.’ ”

And you thought the Heidi Fleiss scandal was big.

Sheftel contends that he stopped making the edible awards after he was warned by the academy, but was sued anyway. He agreed to turn over his statuette molds but balked at paying the academy a royalty as well as legal fees.

“They also wanted a list of all my (chocolate Oscar) customers,” Sheftel added.

And you thought Fleiss’ customer book was controversial.

Attorneys for the academy say that they are only protecting the image of Oscar and claim that Sheftel was “continuing to manufacture and sell” the chocolate awards.

Ironically, the dispute arose after it was learned that Sheftel’s Candy Factory had made 300 figurines for a party of Columbia and Tri-Star executives, many of whom no doubt are academy members.

“Not only that,” Sheftel said, “but Columbia still owes me $225.”

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Talk about full disclosure: Stephen Schertzer of Hawthorne was a bit taken aback by the personal information asked of candidates for the United Defense Federal Credit Union. “Should I go all the way in my biological sketch?” he asks. “You know--kingdom, phylum, class, order, etc.”

Say it again, Sam?Virgil Levy of Downey sent in an addition to our list of malapropisms attributed to movie mogul Sam Goldwyn. The quotation involved an aspiring young actor who wanted to change his name to Rock. Goldwyn is supposed to have responded: “Every Tom, Dick and Harry in Hollywood is called Rock!”

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Bring me the head of Josie Bruin: Sad to report that the head of the UCLA mascot disappeared several weeks ago and still hasn’t turned up.

The Daily Bruin, however, received a note that said, in part: “To whom it concerns . . . I’ve got Josie! If you ever want to see her again, you’ll cooperate with me. I’ll contact you soon with further information.”

But that was nearly a month ago and no further contact has been made. The note, by the way, was signed “Troche,” which hints of possible involvement by a Trojan of the USC variety.

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No contest: We’re taking two weeks off for jury duty, but before we go we want to respond to charges that in some editions we located Duke University in Chapel Hill, N.C., when it’s really in Durham.

Guilty.

miscelLAny:

After we ran photos of the corner of Doty and Doty in Hawthorne, Osceolo Refetoff was inspired to snap a shot of a pair of street signs in El Monte.

Sounds like a retiree’s dream.

Stephen Schertzer asks: “Should I go all the way in my biological sketch?”