Cher Sues Sonny Bono’s Widow Over Song Royalties

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Cher is suing the widow of her late musical partner and former husband Sonny Bono. She’s accusing her of wrongly seeking to revoke her ownership rights to "I Got You Babe" and other iconic hits.

In a complaint filed Wednesday (Oct. 13) in California federal court, Cher asked a judge to stop Mary Bono from invoking copyright laws that don’t apply to her 1978 divorce agreement with Sonny, which gave her a permanent fifty percent cut of royalties from their songs.

That agreement went unchallenged until last month, when Mary Bono's representatives notified Cher that they had invoked the termination right and would soon stop paying out royalties.

Under the terms of that divorce deal, Cher says she was assigned a fifty percent share of "their rights in musical composition royalties, record royalties, and other assets," throughout the world and in perpetuity.”

A follow up court date was not revealed.

TL;DR:

  • Cher is suing the widow of her late musical partner and former husband Sonny Bono.
  • She’s accusing her of wrongly seeking to revoke her ownership rights to "I Got You Babe" and other iconic hits.