Arts and entertainment reports from The Times, national and international news services and the nation’s press.

ART

Leibovitz Loses to Paramount: A federal judge in New York has thrown out photographer Annie Leibovitz’s copyright infringement claim against Paramount Pictures Corp., which, in an ad for the movie “Naked Gun: The Final Insult 33 1/3,” spoofed Leibovitz’s famous Vanity Fair cover photo of a nude, pregnant Demi Moore. U.S. District Judge Loretta Preska found Thursday that the ad, which showed “Naked Gun” star Leslie Nielsen’s face superimposed over a pregnant woman’s body, was a parody and did not infringe on Leibovitz’s copyrighted photo from 1991. Leibovitz had argued that the ad was not a parody because it did not comment upon or criticize the Moore photograph. Leibovitz’s attorney said the ruling made it “a black day for the creative community.”

MOVIES

Joining ‘Must-See’ TV: Playboy centerfold-turned-MTV sensation Jenny McCarthy has a deal with TV’s top-rated network, NBC, for a half-hour comedy series planned for next fall. McCarthy, who recently left MTV’s “Singled Out” to begin work on an sketch comedy series expected to premiere on the cable channel in February or March, made what was billed as her “comedy debut” on NBC earlier this season with a guest stint on “Wings.” In the still-untitled NBC series, McCarthy will play a small-town girl who moves to the Hollywood Hills and becomes a personal assistant to a petulant film star. McCarthy, whose upcoming MTV series will not be affected by the NBC deal, also had been pursued by rival networks Fox and UPN.

Tickle That, Regis: Regis Philbin doesn’t tickle Elmo’s funny bone. The “Sesame Street” character, which has spawned hottest-selling toy of the holiday season, canceled his scheduled Christmas Eve appearance on Philbin’s “Live With Regis & Kathie Lee” after Philbin dissed Elmo on Wednesday’s show. The Children’s Television Workshop, which produces “Sesame Street,” said Elmo would be “very uncomfortable” on the show because of Philbin’s comments about the message of Christmas “being perverted by this Tickle Me Elmo mania.” Elmo was to have taped his Christmas Eve song Thursday, and though he was a no-show, CTW issued a statement saying, “We are big fans of Regis and Kathie Lee, and always have and continue to be.”

POP/ROCK

Seems Like ‘Yesterday’: The Beatles’ single “Yesterday” from 1965, Louis Armstrong & the All-Stars’ hit “Mack the Knife” from 1955 and Gene Autry’s “Back in the Saddle” from 1939 were among six recordings inducted Thursday into the National Academy of Recording Arts & Sciences’ Hall of Fame. Others were Ray Charles’ album “The Genius of Ray Charles” from 1960; the 1929 recording of “An American in Paris” with George Gershwin on piano, the Victor Symphony Orchestra and Nat Shilkret conducting; and Miles Davis and Gil Evans’ album “Sketches of Spain” from 1959. It was the fourth Davis work inducted into the Hall of Fame, which honors “early recordings of lasting, qualitative or historical significance.” It was the third induction for the Beatles, Charles and Armstrong, and the second for Autry, Evans and Gershwin.

Prince Trusting ‘In God’s Hands’: The artist formerly known as Prince, appearing on NBC’s “Today” show Thursday, was vague when asked about his baby, which according to media reports was born deformed and died shortly after birth. Appearing with his wife, Mayte, the musician told Bryant Gumbel: “All I can say is that I’d like to believe that we’re both enlightened individuals that know that if you leave things in God’s hands, you’ll find out everything, and you’ll find out the answer to the plan. So anything that happens, we accept.” Records show that Prince’s wife, whose last name is Garcia, gave birth to a boy in Minneapolis Oct. 16. According to tabloid reports, the baby suffered from a rare and deadly skull deformity resulting from a genetic mutation. The National Enquirer and Entertainment Weekly have reported that the baby died a week after birth.

CLASSICAL MUSIC

Horne Lends Voice to Academy: Diva Marilyn Horne has been named director of the voice program at the Music Academy of the West in Santa Barbara, where she will teach four master classes during the 1997 Summer Music School and Festival. A 1995 Kennedy Center honoree who has sung at the Metropolitan Opera in New York, La Scala in Milan, Covent Garden in London and La Fenice in Venice, Horne is an Academy alumna, having studied there in 1953 with its founder, German soprano Lotte Lehmann. The Academy opens its eight-week, 50th anniversary 1997 season with a joint recital by Horne and Benita Valente on June 27.

QUICK TAKES

Cirque du Soleil’s “Quidam” will return to the Santa Monica Pier for a limited engagement starting April 24. The show closes there Saturday and moves to Costa Mesa next month. “Quidam” already has been seen by 280,000 people--the largest Southland audience ever for a Cirque production, according to a spokesman. . . . “Frasier” star Kelsey Grammer has announced his engagement to UCLA Film School student Camille Donatacci, his girlfriend of seven months. They plan to wed next fall. It will be Grammer’s third marriage. . . . “Sister Act” star Kathy Najimy, 35, and her companion, Stomp dancer Dan Finnerty, 26, announced Thursday the birth of their first child, daughter Samia Najimy Finnerty. The baby was born Dec. 12 in Los Angeles. . . . Manhattan Transfer’s New Year’s Eve concert at the Universal Amphitheatre has been postponed because of slow ticket sales.