The Raging Bull Case – Why It Matters

The recent Supreme Court ruling in Petrella v. MGM sent shockwaves through the copyright world—at least for those of us in the Ninth Circuit, where laches has long been available as an affirmative defense against purportedly stale claims. Indeed, this decision has already opened the door to a new (or old) crop of copyright infringement cases, including a lawsuit over Led Zeppelin's "Stairway to Heaven."

In Petrella, the daughter of "Raging Bull" author Frank Petrella brought an infringement suit against Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer in 2009, some 19 years after she became aware of her potential claims. Rights in Petrella's 1963 screenplay had been assigned to MGM and other studios, but after the author's death in 1981, these rights allegedly reverted to his estate. While Paula Petrella learned in 1991 that she could potentially recover her father's rights to the script, she did not bring suit until 2009, when a Blu-ray disc version of "Raging Bull" was released by MGM.