After retiring from the boxing ring, Jake LaMotta collaborated with his friend Frank Petrella to write a story about his career.

As a result of its merger with United Artists, MGM obtained the rights to the 1980 film Raging Bull, which achieved popular and critical success.

In 1998, her attorney informed MGM of that status and advised that exploitation of any derivative work, including the film, infringed on that copyright.

The judgment was later affirmed by the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, citing its previous jurisprudence in the matter.

In a 6–3 ruling, Justice Ginsburg declared that laches cannot be invoked as a bar to pursuing a claim for damages brought within §507(b)'s three-year window.