In June, the Supreme Court issued a landmark decision affecting
copyright claims and defenses. The copyrighted work at issue was
the popular motion picture Raging Bull, in which Robert
DeNiro plays famous boxing champion Jake LaMotta. In 1980, the
defendant, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, Inc. ("MGM") acquired the
rights to the screenplay, through a subsidiary, and registered a
copyright in the film.
The screenplay was written by author Frank Petrella along with
boxer Jake LaMotta, who assigned their rights to a subsidiary of
MGM. In 1991, when the copyright renewal term—which passes to
an author's heirs—came up, Paula Petrella, Frank
Petrella's daughter, renewed the copyright as the sole owner.
MGM continued using the work without complaint from Petrella from
1991 until January 6, 2009, when she finally sued for copyright
infringement.
