Cher has won a long-running battle over royalties with Sonny Bono's widow. The 'Believe' hitmaker had sued Mary Bono and accused her of withholding payments from songs within the Sonny + Cher catalogue, with the lawsuit arguing she was entitled to a 50/50 share of royalties as set out in an agreement she and her ex-husband had made in their 1978 divorce settlement. And now, US District Judge John Kronstadt ruled at a Los Angeles federal court that “a right to receive royalties is distinct from a grant of copyright”, and Cher should continue receiving payments for the duo's songs, which include 'I Got You Babe' and 'The Beat Goes On'.
Cher is owed around $418,000. Journalism for the curious Australian across politics, business, culture and opinion. Sonny died in a skiing accident in 1998 at the age of 62, with his share of the publishing revenue passing to his heirs, and the legal case came about after Mary exercised a feature of copyright law that allows songwriters and their heirs to win back rights they have signed away in 2016, as she argued she now owned her late husband's publishing rights.
Royalties were then withdrawn from the 78-year-old singer in 2021, prompting her to take legal action and her team insisting the termination clause used by Mary was "wholly inapplicable" to the royalty agreement set out in the former couple's divorce settlement. The ruling may not have come as a surprise as in February, the judge said during a hearing: “I don’t think the notic.