ARTS AND ENTERTAINMENT REPORTS FROM THE TIMES, NEWS SERVICES AND THE NATION’S PRESS.

POP/ROCK

Ronettes Win Court Case Against Spector

An appeals court has ordered record producer Phil Spector to pay about $3 million to the Ronettes, a 1960s “girl group” he discovered, managed and allegedly cheated.

The trio--which included his then-wife--was paid next to nothing while Spector earned millions at its expense, the New York State Supreme Court’s Appellate Division ruled Tuesday. Veronica “Ronnie” Bennett Spector Greenfield and the producer divorced in 1974.

The decision upheld a 1998 lower court ruling that Spector had violated his contract by selling recordings for use as background music in movies, videocassette recordings and advertising instead of confining himself to royalties from record sales.

Industry custom requires that Spector, who kept the rights to all Ronettes recordings, pay a 50% royalty to the artists, which the producer failed to do.

Spector was ordered to pay Greenfield, her sister Estelle Bennett and their cousin Nedra Talley Ross $2.97 million, plus interest.

Spector’s lawyer, Andrew H. Bart, argued that if the contract did not give a specific right to the recording artists, that right was retained by the producer.

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TELEVISION

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Michael Jackson Special Really Pops for CBS

Michael Jackson’s 30th anniversary special drew blockbuster ratings Tuesday, giving CBS its biggest audience for that night of the week since 1994.

The concert telecast averaged 25.7 million viewers and steadily built over the course of its two hours, winning by a narrower margin from 9 to 10 p.m. against “Frasier’s” 200th episode--which averaged 19.3 million viewers--and “NYPD Blue” (13.1 million).

Facing such tough competition, the odd show out was the new serialized Fox drama “24,” which averaged 8.8 million viewers, a 25% drop compared with its premiere. Fox is again repeating the show this week on Friday, hoping more people will sample it.

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THE ARTS

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Rare Ming Jar Sells for $1 Million at Auction

At a seven-minute auction at Sotheby’s in London on Wednesday, art dealer Daniel Eskenazi paid $1 million for a rare Chinese Ming jar that had been bought for $143 in a small antique shop. “For a collector or a museum, it’s the jewel in the crown ... of a period that is regarded as the best in Chinese ceramics,” he said.

The previous owner, who declined to be named, said her father, a ceramics aficionado, bought the brightly colored jar, dating from 1465-1487, suspecting it was Ming. Even so, she had no idea it was worth so much.

Neither, apparently, did Sotheby’s, which had estimated that the piece would go for between $143,000 and $286,000.

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QUICK TAKES

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The American Film Institute has announced the fifth in a series of TV specials celebrating its 100th anniversary. “AFI’s 100 Years ... 100 Passions” will focus on America’s 100 greatest movie love stories and will air on CBS in June.... Sydney Pollack told Reuters that Tom Cruise will star in--and Anthony Minghella (“The English Patient”) will direct--”Cold Mountain,” a film version of Charles Frazier’s best-selling Civil War novel that Pollack is producing.... Actress Andie MacDowell, 43, is honeymooning with her new husband, Rhett DeCamp Hartzog, 43, a high-school classmate whom she married in Asheville, N.C., on Saturday.

Elaine Dutka