Cher Wins Royalties Suit Against Sonny Bono's Widow

Things have been going well for Cher of late. The pop music icon was recently voted for induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and on Wednesday (May 29) she won her lawsuit against the widow of Sonny Bono over royalties to such Sonny & Cher classics as "I Got You Babe" and more, according to Billboard.

Mary Bono had claimed that more than two decades after Sonny's death, she no longer had to pay royalties to Cher as a result of termination rights that allows songwriters and their heirs to regain control of their intellectual property rights after a specific period of time, per the report.

However, in his ruling on Wednesday, Judge John A. Kronstadt said that termination rights do not invalidate Sonny and Cher's 1978 divorce agreement, which awarded the singer 50% of the publishing income from the songs that were penned prior to the couple's split.

As a result of the ruling, Cher will continue to get publishing royalties from the songs she created with Sonny, including such classics as "I Got You Babe," "The Beat Goes On" and others.

Sonny and Cher separated in 1974 but didn't finalize their divorce settlement until 1978. Under that agreement, Cher was permanently awarded half of all publishing royalties, though Sonny remained owner of the rights to their music.

Bono died in 1998 in a skiing accident leaving Mary Bono and her heirs, in 2016, to attempt to take back control of Sonny's copyrights from his publishers claiming termination rights. As a result, Mary told Cher they would soon halt royalty payments that were agreed to under the previous agreement.

Cher promptly sued, saying that she still owned her 50% share regardless of who is the copyright holder. Mary Bono countered a few months later, saying that the termination rights superseded the previous agreement with Cher.

In his decision on Wednesday, Judge Kronstadt ruled in favor of Cher, noting that the divorce settlement gave the singer a "contractual right to receive financial compensation." He added that "a right to receive royalties is distinct from a grant of copyright."

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