cher has won her copyright lawsuit against Mary Bono,
It’s almost been three years since the singer filed the suit against Mary, her ex-husband Sonny Bono’s widow, and now the court has ruled in her favour.
The suit was filed in October 2021, with Cher suing Mary over royalty payments for songs recorded as Sonny and Cher.
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“As to the resulting damages, the parties agree that Wixen distributed at least $187,000 of Composition Royalties to Sonny’s heirs that, but for the invalid termination, would have been distributed to (Cher); of this amount, at least $93,500 was paid to (Mary),” said the judge, according to court minutes obtained by People,
“The parties also do not dispute that, as of June 30, 2022, Wixen (Music Publishing) held $418,156.82 in Composition Royalties that would have been distributed to (Cher).”
The judge ruled that Cher is now owed over $418,000 (approx. $630,000 AUD).
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Although the suit was filed in 2021, the dispute dates back much further.
After Cher and Sonny divorced in 1978, it was agreed that Cher would continue to hold a 50 per cent stake in the Sonny & Cher publishing catalog.
20 years later, Sonny died in a skiing accident. Mary became the administrator of his estate and she and their four children (heirs) inherited the royalties from his songs.
In 2011, Cher claims that Wixen publishing began ‘collecting and distributing’ her share of the royalties from the Sonny and Cher music catalog.
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In the US Copyright Act, there is a section titled “termination rights” that allows songwriters and their heirs to take back the control of their US publishing rights after 35 years.
in 2016, Mary acted on those rights – Cher claims it was without her knowledge – and in 2021, she attempted to stop paying Cher her royalties because of those rights.
Cher then sued a tentative ruling was made in her favour in February. That ruling has been upheld and the singer is now owed over half a million in royalties.
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