Photo credit:  American singer-songwriter, actress, record producer and TV host Cher (Cherilyn Sarkisian) at Cannes Film Festival 2024. AmfAR Gala Cannes 2024. Cannes (France), May 23rd, 2024 (Photo by Rocco Spaziani/Archivio Spaziani/Mondadori Portfolio via Getty Images)

 

Cher won a lawsuit against Sonny Bono’s widow, Mary, over royalties related to the songs that she made as one-half of Sonny and Cher. As part of their 1978 divorce settlement, Cher was granted a permanent 50% cut of the publishing revenues of the songs they had recorded together while married. In 2016, Mary Bono invoked the “termination right,” a federal copyright law designed for songwriters and heirs to gain control of intellectual property following their death and stopped paying Cher royalties altogether in 2021. The judge said that Cher’s divorce settlement constitutes a “contractual right to receive financial compensation,” which can’t be overturned by the termination right. She’s now owed over $400,000 in past royalties that have accrued since the lawsuit began.