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Why Cher is suing Sonny Bono's widow, Mary Bono - Los Angeles Times

Why Cher is suing Sonny Bono's widow, Mary Bono - Los Angeles Times

Why Cher is suing Sonny Bono's widow, Mary Bono - Los Angeles Times
Oct 14, 2021 1 min, 55 secs

Cher is suing Sonny Bono’s widow over royalties to songs the pop icon made famous with her ex-husband as the musical duo Sonny and Cher.

Mary Bono, a trustee of the Bono Collection Trust and other individuals, accusing them of breach of contract.

The 75-year-old entertainer claimed that Bono’s fourth wife has tried to terminate provisions that entitle Cher to 50% ownership of the duo’s musical composition royalties, record royalties and other assets from their marriage.

“The Sonny & Cher Comedy Hour” stars began performing together in 1964, married in 1967 and divorced in 1975.

Mary Bono later won his House seat and has appeared alongside Cher at various events over the years.

firm Davis, Wright, Tremaine LLP — contends that Sonny Bono “irrevocably assigned” those rights to Cher in 1978 “as her sole and separate property throughout the world and in perpetuity.” She “has been the unchallenged owner of her 50% share of all musical composition and record royalties during their collaboration and marriage,” according to the 20-page complaint, obtained Thursday by The Times.

From the Archives: Sonny and Cher, together again.

Mary Bono is accused of trying to undo that agreement and deprive Cher of other long-established rights under the settlement, the lawsuit said.

“This action has become necessary because now, more than forty years after [Cher] received her 50% ownership of her and Sonny’s community property, Sonny’s fourth wife and widow, defendant Mary Bono, claims that a wholly inapplicable statutory termination provision of the Copyright Act of 1976...has undone [Cher’s] ownership of her royalties from the songs and recordings that she and Sonny made famous during their marriage, and deprived [Cher] of other long-established rights under the 1978 agreement,” the filing said.

The complaint said that in 2016, Sonny Bono’s heirs, or a majority of them, and Wixen Music Publishing issued a notice of termination to various music publishers or other companies to whom Sonny Bono had granted a transfer or license of the renewal copyrights in the musical compositions.

Last month, the Bono Collection Trust told Cher’s representatives that the heirs’ notice of termination also terminated the stream of composition royalties that Sonny Bono assigned to her in 1978.

The Bono Collection Trust also contends that Cher no longer has approval rights in agreements with third parties regarding musical compositions and composition royalties.

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