Raging Bull copyright dispute settled
The daughter of a deceased writer has settled a long-running dispute with film company MGM Studios over the copyright to the film Raging Bull.
Paula Petrella, daughter of writer Frank Petrella, agreed to settle all infringement claims against MGM on Friday (April 3).
Details of the settlement have not been publicly disclosed.
The case concerned a screenplay written by Frank Petrella and former boxer Jake LaMotta in 1963.
Frank Petrella died in 1981, but his daughter renewed the rights to the work in 1991.
Paula Petrella claimed it was this screenplay which formed the basis for the 1980 film Raging Bull.
Raging Bull follows the life of LaMotta, a US boxer. The film was directed by Martin Scorsese and starred actor Robert De Niro as LaMotta.
Despite exchanging letters with MGM in 1998, in which Petrella claimed MGM owed her royalties from the film, she did file a lawsuit until 2009.
Both the US District Court for the Central District of California and the US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit rejected Petrella’s claims of infringement, citing the laches doctrine.
The laches doctrine restricts parties from filing legal action when there has been a lengthy delay in pursuing it.
But, following a request from Petrella, the US Supreme Court revived the dispute in May last year.
In a 6-3 verdict in favour of Petrella it sent the case back to the district court to be heard again.
MGM did not respond to a request for comment. Paula Petrella could not be reached for comment.
