Cher won her yearslong lawsuit against Sonny Bono's widow over royalty payments for songs like "I Got You Babe" and "The Beat Goes On."
Cher sued Mary Bono in 2021, accusing her of withholding royalties from the Sonny & Cher catalog. The federal civil lawsuit says Cher and Sonny had agreed to "an equal division of their community property" after their divorce in 1975, which included an even split of music royalty payments. The pair had made up the 1960s and ’70s pop duo Sonny & Cher and were married from 1967 to 1975.
Cher said in her lawsuit that the 50-50 split carried on after he died in a skiing accident in 1998. However, Mary Bono advised Cher that she was no longer entitled to her share of payments under a provision of copyright law that allows songwriters and their heirs to win back control of intellectual property given to third parties.
In a decision issued Wednesday, U.S. District Judge John A. Kronstadt ruled in favor of Cher, allowing her to continue receiving payments. Since the dispute began, more than $400,000 has been withheld from her, the filing says.
Attorneys for Cher and Mary Bono did not immediately respond to requests for comment.