Cher is back in court battling Sonny Bono’s widow Mary over royalties the renowned singer thinks she is owed.
According to court documents acquired by RadarOnline.com, the 77-year-old singer is requesting that all allegations made against her be dismissed by a federal judge. Cher filed a lawsuit in 2021, alleging that Mary was hiding money owing from Sonny & Cher’s legendary songs.
Cher claimed that songs like The Beat Goes On and I Got You Babe owed her royalties. In the lawsuit, Cher claimed that when she and Sonny divorced in 1975, they promised to divide their profits equally. The musician claimed Mary had been trying to illegally collect royalties that were not rightfully hers.
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Cher urged the court to uphold the divorce arrangement and sought $1 million in damages. Mary responded by requesting the dismissal of all claims.She claimed she had the right to revoke the divorce arrangement under federal law. Mary maintained that because the 50% agreement had ended, Sonny’s heirs now received the income.
Cher might receive all of Sonny’s then-existing rights, including a 50% royalty interest in his copyrights. But Sonny could not have signed away the future termination rights of his successors,” the motion stated. “Cher’s state law action for breach of contract is preempted by the heirs’ right to terminate under the Copyright Act. So, her claim is invalid, Mary said.
Cher was the target of a countersuit by Mary. In it, she stated, “Cher and Mary worked together in 1999 and again in 2011 to design a mutually agreeable method for the collecting and proper disbursement of the Royalties, and they worked together for more than twenty years to implement that mechanism. Unfortunately, there is no longer any cooperation.
Mary also asked the court to rule that Cher did not have the authority to endorse or criticise a worldwide administrator for the royalties owed to her and the Heirs. Mary further requested that the judge grant her permission to make use of the recordings she owns and any money generated by these new contracts. Cher has now urged the court to reject the entire counterclaim and permit the continuation of her lawsuit. She claimed that Mary “wrongfully induced” a third party to pay the payments to her.