Screenwriters receive less silver screen credibility compared with movie industry peers.
For instance, those who've seen Raging Bull know that Robert DeNiro stars and Martin Scorsese directs. But most viewers don't know that someone previously discredited likely wrote the 1980 drama's script and will start receiving royalties posthumously, according to a recent Wall Street Journal article. Frank Petrella conceived a 1963 screenplay that allegedly inspired Scorsese's Academy Award-winning boxing picture. The MGM movie is about '40s and '50s boxing champ Jake LaMotta and won Robert De Niro an Academy Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role. That same year, Petrella received minor film credits and died.
In an effort to uphold her father's reputation and start receiving financial compensation, Petrella's daughter presented her case before the Supreme Court.
"But the Supreme Court reversed the Ninth Circuit, holding that federal copyright law displaces laches, giving Ms. Petrella the right to pursue claims for a three-year statute-of-limitations period leading up to the filing of a lawsuit," The Journal's Jess Bravin reported. "Justices Antonin Scalia, Clarence Thomas, Samuel Alito, Sonia Sotomayor and Elena Kagan joined the majority opinion. Justice Stephen Breyer, joined by Chief Justice John Roberts and Justice Anthony Kennedy, dissented."
Regardless of this decision, MGM Attorney Mark Perry seeks further justice. "The decision, however, does not end this matter as we continue to believe that the plaintiff's case is legally and factually unsupportable," The Journal reported. "We look forward to vindicating our rights in the film 'Raging Bull' in the lower courts."
Liz Kobak discusses who wrote Raging Bull.