Supreme Court Allows 'Raging Bull' Heiress to Sue MGM for Copyright Damages — hollywoodreporter.com

On Monday, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in favor of Paula Petrella, whose father, Frank Petrella, wrote works that allegedly became the basis for Martin Scorsese's classic film Raging Bull, starring Robert De Niro. Petrella asserts that because her father died in 1981, before the original term of the copyright grant expired, rights to Raging Bull reverted to the heirs. She's suing MGM and 20th Century Fox for at least $1 million in damages from alleged copyright infringement in the continued distribution of the film. Before the case got to the Supreme Court, it was rejected by lower courts because of the doctrine of laches, which prohibits delayed lawsuits that have a prejudicial effect on defendants.

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