He was called "the hardest-working man in show business," and one year after his death, some fear that the legal imbroglio over his estate jeopardizes everything he worked for.

James Brown's estate and his philanthropic trust funds are paralyzed by lawsuits and in risk of being drained by legal fees. His public image, which long see-sawed with his run-ins with the law, remains controversial even in death with an unfolding soap opera involving unclaimed children, challenges to his will, the paternity of his 6-year-old son, the legitimacy of his fourth marriage and his accountant under fire over missing money.

"It's a disgrace, what has occurred," said attorney Buddy Dallas, the entertainer's longtime advisor, who quit as an estate trustee last month, then retracted his resignation alleging that an Aiken County judge intimidated him into it.

Mr. Brown arranged for the proceeds from his music empire -- including song royalties -- to roll into two trust funds after his death, one to educate poor children in Georgia and South Carolina, another to pay college tuition for his grandchildren.

"A man can be no more altruistic than was James Brown," Mr. Dallas said. "Do I think his legacy will be forgotten? Only if his wishes are not allowed to be carried out."

But the Godfather of Soul left another legacy that can never be diminished, his admirers say, no matter what happens to his estate or his progeny. It's a legacy that's bound to grow in coming years with the releases of books, films, DVDs and tribute CDs.

"His body of work as an artist is untouchable," said Howard Kramer, curatorial director of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum in Cleveland. "Ultimately, music is the truth, and the rest of it is just hot air. Ultimately, it's James Brown's art and the music that he created that will stand the test of time."

COURTROOM BATTLES already threaten the memory of Mr. Brown in at least one way, according to Mr. Dallas.

Two days after the music legend's Christmas Day death, Daily Variety reported that Spike Lee had signed on to direct a movie about him, with filming likely to begin next year.

But with the estate that controls his image and music in limbo, that deal is dead, Mr. Dallas said.

Mr. Lee denies that.

"(The) film is not 'dead'," he said through his publicist, Jackie Bazan, declining to answer any other questions. "I will still make this film."

Other projects have gone on despite the infighting.

Last month, through his label, SLAMjamz, rap artist Chuck D released the first James Brown tribute album since his death, Tribb to JB . He and SLAMjamz' stable of singers, musicians, rappers and DJs reinterpreted 10 of Mr. Brown's songs, making frequent use of his voice and beats and the Rev. Al Sharpton eulogizing him.

Chuck D, founder and frontman of the ground-breaking rap group Public Enemy, reveals in the liner notes that Flavor Flav's sideman role in the group was derived from Bobby Byrd's role in the Famous Flames.

"One thing I noticed (in the) last year, one thing I knew that was gonna' happen, there's just a large amount of silence this whole year considering Mr. Brown," Chuck D said. "I just think it goes into black culture. It's still under-acknowledged in this country as being the gigantic contributor to Americana that it is. Therefore, when it's the blues, people end up talking about Elvis or The Rolling Stones, but it had to come from somewhere."

GROWING UP in Roosevelt, Long Island, in the 1960s, Chuck D -- real name Carlton Ridenhour -- said Mr. Brown was as much a presence in his life as a close relative, playing on the turntable or performing on the television set.

In the late 1970s, while mainstream America was enamored with The Bee Gees and the Studio 54 disco scene, black artists immersed in Mr. Brown's beats started the movement that became hip hop.

"I mean, break-dancing starts off with 'Get On the Good Foot'," Chuck D said. "And the holy trinity of hip hop, you know, talkin' about Afrika Bambaataa, Cool Herc, Grandmaster Flash, their foundations are rooted in James Brown."

Public Enemy came along in the late 1980s, heavily sampling Mr. Brown and introducing his beats and words to Generation X. Their 1989 anthem, "Fight The Power," contains the "Hot Pants" riff. Mr. Brown's voice can be heard in the intro to 2005's "Superman's Black in the Building." But even when the group wasn't using snippets from Mr. Brown, they were channelling his spirit, Chuck D said.

MR. BROWN'S point of reference in the American consciousness has long been race-based, Mr. Kramer, of the rock hall of fame, said. Whites lapped up a steady stream of stories about his personality and foibles, learning to regard him in terms of his prison stint, his domestic violence arrests and his sometimes bizarre behavior. To many of them, he became a singing doll, an Eddie Murphy comedy routine, a frazzle-haired crooner in a police mug shot.

"But in African-American homes, he will be regarded for exactly what he was," Mr. Kramer said -- a genius, a pioneer, a revolutionary.

The paradox of Mr. Brown's personal and professional lives is perhaps no better illustrated than on the Web site Youtube.com, where visual memories of the Godfather's best and worst times will play on in perpetuity.

There's Mr. Brown dancing with Usher, singing "It's a Man's Man's Man's World" with opera star Luciano Pavarotti, and giving a jarring performance of "Papa Don't Take No Mess" on Soul Train.

There's also he and Little Richard playing Wheel of Fortune, when Mr. Brown had to spin again with "Blues Singer Billie Holi---" on the board. And type "James Brown drunk" into the search bar, and there's his bizarre interview on CNN after his third wife, Adrienne, had him arrested for firing a gun at her car.

Throughout his life, Mr. Brown made thousands of recordings and appeared in scores of feature films and television shows, including a guest spot on a 1993 episode of The Simpsons.

EVEN IN his final days, he was working with producer Brian Grazer (Apollo 13 , A Beautiful Mind ) to make the Spike Lee movie. It was never established who was going to play Mr. Brown in the various stages of his life, although both Usher and Wesley Snipes were mentioned as possibilities.

Mr. Brown was also working with his fourth wife, Tomi Rae Hynie Brown, on a documentary titled Life on the Road with Mr. and Mrs. Brown . Mrs. Brown said in a Jan. 3 interview with CNN talk show host Larry King that the documentary has been renamed Me and Mr. Brown .

Books with "inside stories" are reportedly in the works by former tour aide and performer Roosevelt Johnson and by former Bittersweets backup vocalist Candice Hurst.

Meanwhile, demand for the Godfather's music has skyrocketed. His label had trouble keeping shelves stocked in the week after his death. Last week, his classic Live At the Apollo was Amazon.com's top-selling CD in the live classic R&B category, and the fourth highest-selling disc in the live soul category.

WHAT'S UPSETTING about the legal fiasco is that Mr. Brown prided himself on being an astute businessman, Mr. Kramer said, and now it seems his affairs weren't in order. Either that, or his wishes are being ignored, he said.

Fears about the trust funds have already prompted Mr. Brown's former pastor, the Rev. Larry Fryer, to file a motion to intervene on behalf of disadvantaged children who were to benefit from the James Brown "I Feel Good" Trust, and the South Carolina and Georgia attorney generals' offices have entered the fray for the same reason.

Forlando Brown, the singer's 21-year-old grandson, said he's the first grandchild in line to take advantage of the James Brown Family Education Trust, but his college money was cut off after Aiken County Judge Jack Early put two South Carolina lawyers in charge of the estate. He had to temporarily drop out of the University of West Georgia.

He said he, his brother and his father, Terry Brown, have been ostracized by the family for siding with his grandfather's trustees in ongoing legal tangles. He said his aunts and uncles -- left only household belongings in the will -- want to oust the men so they can control the estate worth millions of dollars .

"My grandfather always said, 'I'm working for my grandchildren and needy children'," Forlando said. "Right now, the legacy of my grandfather is being shredded. It's absolutely being shredded and strangled."

DAUGHTER VENISHA Brown, said nothing can damage the Godfather of Soul's legacy. She and another sister, Yamma Lumar, contributed to keeping his name alive by releasing a CD titled James Brown: A Family Affair in January.

"We're all human, and humans are not perfect," Venisha Brown said, adding that her father's death has not caused a rift among the family. "It has nothing to do with his legacy, because that will live on until the end of time."

His son, Larry Brown, said the dispute is not about money. It's about his father's legacy being in the right hands.

"He often said three things: Beethoven, Bach and Brown," Mr. Brown said. "The three Bs. That's one of his favorite quotes. And it speaks for itself."

Staff writers Don Rhodes and Mike Wynn contributed to this story.

Reach Johnny Edwards at (706) 823-3225 or johnny.edwards@augustachronicle.com.