Hollywood Docket: MGM bankruptcy; Bergstein's gambling debt; appeals court reinstates MSNBC suit

• MGM is preparing to move ahead on a plan in bankruptcy court that would hand over most of the equity in the studio to its secured lenders and control of the studio to Spyglass Entertainment. The process is expected to take 30 days. [LAT/Law360]

• Today in David Bergstein news: The embattled film financier is asking a bankruptcy court to stop a court-appointed trustee from looking into $1 million in debt at a casino. [THR] 

• The 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals has reinstated a former MSNBC entertainment reporter's lawsuit against the network for breach of contract and defamation. A lower court previously tossed the case, judging an e-mail sent by the plaintiff, Claudia DiFolco, where she declared her readiness to "discuss [her] exit from the shows" as indication that she had effectively resigned. MSNBC then leaked the news of her departure and she was ridiculed in some news outlets. The 2nd Circuit says the e-mail was ambiguous about her intentions. [Here's the ruling]

• The Ohio Democratic Party recently put up an ad on YouTube showing that a Republican Congressman had used an actor in his own campaign spot. In making its point, the ODP used a clip from a film produced by Arginate Studios. Arginate claimed a copyright violation and got YouTube to pull the ad. Now some are attacking Arginate's move as an abuse of "fair use." [EFF/C&C]

• An Italian TV show host broke the news on live television to a mother of a missing 15-year-old daughter that her brother-in-law had just confessed to the murder. The telecast has sparked outrage and questions of ethics from viewers. [BBC]

• Former "ChiPs" star Larry WIlcox has been accused by the SEC of securities fraud in connection with alleged kickback schemes to manipulate the prices of microcap stocks. [LAT] 

• CNN calls 81-year-old Bert Fields the "Energizer Bunny of Hollywood lawyers" for logging 3,000 billable hours this year. We agree that's pretty amazing. [CNN]