Cher Wins Final Judgment in Royalties War Wiht Sonny Bono‘s Widow

A federal judge has sided with Cher yet again, issuing a final judgment in the singer’s four-year royalties war with Sonny Bono’s widow that grants Cher almost everything she sought, including potentially substantial legal costs. Mary Bono, the head of her late husband’s estate, plans to appeal, her lawyer tells Rolling Stone.

In his final judgment signed Nov. 26,U.S. District Judge John A. Kronstadt formally lodged his prior ruling that found Mary was barred from using the federal Copyright Act to reclaim the 50 percent share of Sonny’s composition royalties granted to Cher in her 1978 divorce agreement with Sonny. Mary had tried to terminate those rights – for hit songs including “I Got You Babe” and “The Beat Goes On” – along with Cher’s 50 percent share of the musical recordings she made with Sonny. The judge said california contract law, which governed the divorce agreement, trumped the copyright termination power of the federal Copyright act.

The judge than moved into new territory,holding that Cher retains her right to have her composition and record royalties paid directly to her,even though she sold the rights to Irving Azoff’s Iconic Artists Group in 2022. As Rolling Stone previously reported, mary wanted to deal directly with Iconic and route the payments through the estate, without Cher involved. In his final judgment, Judge Kronstadt included language, sought by Cher, stating that Cher’s right to collect remained intact, along with her approval rights regarding “any and all third-party contracts with resp