Supreme Court Justices Weigh ‘Raging Bull’ Rights

Source: Variety

Jake LaMotta’s career ended in the 1950s, but his legacy lived on in books, screenplays, acting and, of course, the 1980 movie “Raging Bull.” And on Tuesday, his life will have had at least an indirect impact on a legal doctrine that made its way to the Supreme Court.

The question was whether Paula Petrella, the daughter of one of LaMotta’s writing collaborators, Frank Petrella, waited too long to press her claim that MGM’s movie infringed on the copyright she held on a 1963 screenplay her father wrote, “The Raging Bull.” She became aware of her copyright stake in 1991, but didn’t file an infringement suit until 2009.

The justices, in session despite the closure of many other federal offices because of a snowstorm, gave few clear hints of which way they are leaning.

The Copyright Act spells out a three-year statute of limitations — meaning that Petrella would be entitled to damages only as far back as 2006 — but lower courts dismissed her claim altogether. They based it on the legal doctrine of laches, which prevents cases filed after unreasonable lengths of time.

Read more: http://variety.com/2014/biz/news/supreme-court-justices-weigh-raging-bull-rights-1201066075/