Copyright Action Over The Film “Raging Bull” Timely Filed.

In 1980, MGM released and registered a copyright in the film “Raging Bull,” and continues to market the film today. The owner of the screenplay copyrighted in 1963 filed a copyright infringement action against MGM in 2009. A federal district court granted summary judgment to MGM under the doctrine of laches, and the Ninth Circuit affirmed. The United States Supreme Court reversed, stating: “Congress provided two controlling time prescriptions: the copyright term, which endures for decades, and may pass from one generation to another; and 17 U.S.C. § 507 (b)’s limitations period, which allows plaintiffs during that lengthy term to gain retrospective relief running only three years back from the date the complaint was filed.” (Petrella v. Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, Inc. (U.S. Sup. Ct.; May 19, 2014) 134 S.Ct. 1962, [188 L.Ed.2d 979].)