Cher Fights Ex-Husband Sonny Bono’s Widow Mary’s Lawsuit Over Royalties, Says She’s Owed $1 Million
Jul. 13 2023, Published 5:30 p.m. ET
Cher is back in court fighting Sonny Bono’s widow Mary over royalties the legendary singer claims to be owed, RadarOnline.com has learned.
According to court documents obtained by RadarOnline.com, the 77-year-old singer wants a federal judge to throw out all claims filed against her.
Back in 2021, Cher sued claiming Mary was withholding money owed from Sonny & Cher’s classic hits.
Cher said royalties were owed from songs like The Beat Goes On and I Got You Babe.
Mary Bono
In the suit, Cher said she and Sonny agreed to split their royalties evenly in their 1975 divorce. The musician said Mary had been attempting to improperly collect royalties not owed to her.
Cher demanded $1 million in damages and asked the court to find the divorce agreement to be valid. In response, Mary asked the court to throw out all claims.
She argued federal law gave her the authority to terminate the divorce agreement. Mary argued the 50% deal had expired and the royalties were now paid to Sonny’s heirs.
“Sonny could grant Cher his then-current rights, including a 50% royalty interest in his copyrights. Sonny could not, however, have signed away his heirs’ future rights of termination,” her motion read.
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“The heirs’ right to terminate under the Copyright Act preempts Cher’s state law breach of contract claim. Therefore, her claim fails,” Mary argued.
Mary filed a countersuit against Cher. In it, she said, “Cher and Mary cooperated in 1999 and again in 2011 in developing a mutually acceptable mechanism for the collection and proper disbursement of the Royalties, and they cooperated for over twenty years in implementing that mechanism. Unfortunately, that cooperation has now broken down.”
Further, Mary demanded that the court order Cher does not have a right to approve or disapprove a worldwide administrator for the royalties due her and the Heirs. Further, Mary asked for the judge to order she has the right to exploit the recordings that she holds and any revenue arising from such new agreements.
Now, Cher has asked the court to dismiss the entire counterclaim and allow her suit to move forward. She said Mary has “wrongfully induced” a third party to pay her the royalties.
Cher demanded Mary pay her legal fees associated with fighting the counterclaim. The judge has yet to rule on the matter.