Justices Reinstate Copyright Lawsuit Over ‘Raging Bull’; New York Times, 5/19/14

Adam Liptak, New York Times; Justices Reinstate Copyright Lawsuit Over ‘Raging Bull’ :

"The Supreme Court on Monday revived a copyright lawsuit against the owners of “Raging Bull,” the acclaimed 1980 movie for which Robert De Niro won an Academy Award as best actor for his portrayal of the boxer Jake LaMotta.

The case arose from a 1963 screenplay written by Frank Petrella in collaboration with Mr. LaMotta. Mr. Petrella died in 1981, and his daughter Paula inherited the rights to the screenplay.

She did not sue the movie’s owners until 2009, and the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, in San Francisco, said that was too late. The copyright law itself would have allowed the suit, as its three-year statute of limitations starts to run anew every time there is a fresh infringement."

U.S. justices referee 'Raging Bull' copyright fight; Reuters, 1/21/14

Lawrence Hurley, Reuters; U.S. justices referee 'Raging Bull' copyright fight:

"U.S. Supreme Court justices sparred on Tuesday over how to resolve a copyright dispute concerning an early screenplay for what became the iconic boxing movie "Raging Bull."...

The court is hearing a claim brought by Paula Petrella, daughter of deceased screenwriter Frank Petrella. She says MGM Holdings Inc and Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment owe her money for infringing the copyright of a 1963 screenplay upon which she alleges the movie was based. Fox, a subsidiary of Twenty-First Century Fox Inc is a defendant because it has the rights to distribute MGM movies on DVD...

The legal question is whether MGM can argue in its defense that Petrella, who sued in 2009, waited too long to assert her claim."