Cher won her lawsuit against Mary Bono, recovering nearly $400,000 in royalties.
Cher, Mary Bono, and Sonny Bono fought over royalties and divorce settlements.
Cher won because her 1978 divorce settlement with Sonny is legally enforceable, the court said.
Cher beat Sonny Bono’s widow, Mary Bono.
Cher sued Mary Bono in 2021 over royalties and divorce.
The 1998 skiing accident killed Sonny Bono, according to History.com:
The 62-year-old Bono and his fourth wife, Mary, were visiting Heavenly Ski Resort 55 miles south of Reno, Nevada, with their young son and daughter.
The catastrophe happened when Bono left his family to ski alone on January 5 afternoon. He was reported missing hours later and discovered dead that night.
“Police said Bono had skied into a wooded area and hit a tree; the cause of death was massive head injuries.”
Sonny and Cher were once a famous “it couple,” with a shared body of work, but he died suddenly while married to Mary.
Sonny and Cher founded “Sonny & Cher” in 1964, married in 1967, and divorced in 1978. Mary Bono was sued in 2021.
Cher and Mary Bono’s Royalties Battle, Recap
Cher sued Mary Bono for royalties in October 2021, according to Reuters.
Reuters called the defendant “former Republican U.S. Representative Mary Bono,” saying:
Cher requested a Los Angeles court on October 13, 2021, to prevent Sonny Bono’s royalties trust from terminating her rights from a divorce settlement that gave her half of Sonny & Cher’s profits.
“Mary Bono, the trust’s sole trustee, didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment; neither did Cher’s attorney[.]”
According to Reuters, Cher said that a trust official notified her in September 2021 that it would stop paying her payments, citing copyright law.
Cher demanded $1 million in damages for breaking her divorce settlement with Sonny Bono and continuing royalty payments.
On March 17, 2023, Billboard reported that a court denied Mary Bono’s lawyers’ petition to dismiss the suit:
“A federal court has refused to dismiss Cher’s lawsuit against Sonny Bono’s widow Mary Bono for royalties from ‘I Got You Babe’ and other songs more than a year after Cher sued.
According to Cher, her 1978 divorce arrangement with Sonny allowed her a permanent 50% share on songs created before they split, but Mary ceased paying after invoking copyright’s termination clause.
“Mary’s attorneys say she was entitled to do so, and that the case should be dismissed.”
Billboard then explained the dispute:
In 2016, Mary Bono utilized the termination right, a federal Copyright Act clause that permits authors or their successors to reclaim rights signed away decades before.
“Mary sent such notices to Sonny and Cher’s publishers, taking back full control of those copyrights.”
Cher won another “tentative” decision on February 28:
According to court papers acquired by City News Service on February 28, a Los Angeles federal judge provisionally decided for Cher in her case alleging Sonny Bono’s wife owes her $1 million in Sonny & Cher song royalties.
“U.S. District Judge John Kronstadt wrote in minutes issued late [on February 27th] that while he is ‘inclined to deny in part and grant in part’ Mary Bono’s motion for summary judgment, he would consider the matter and issue a ruling.”
Cher beat Mary Bono in court
Cher won her lawsuit against Mary Bono, Billboard reported on May 29.
With almost $400,000 in royalties “owed to Cher” accrued during litigation, the site recounted how the dispute unfolded:
“On May 29, Judge John A. Kronstadt concluded that the federal termination regulations do not supersede Sonny and Cher’s 1978 divorce settlement, which guaranteed Cher a permanent 50% cut of publication royalties from songs produced before the split.
Judge Kronstadt sided with Cher on May 29th. He decided that Cher’s divorce settlement with Sonny offered her a ‘contractual right to obtain cash recompense,’ not copyright ownership that could be revoked via the termination right:
“‘A right to receive royalties is distinct from a grant of copyright,’ the judge wrote.”
On May 30th, NBC News said Cher’s “federal civil lawsuit states that Cher and Sonny had agreed to ‘an equal division of their community property’ following their divorce in [1978], which included an even split of music royalty payments.”
After the verdict, Cher is awarded $418,000, according to The Guardian. Cher and Mary Bono did not reply to a request for comment.