Cher wins royalties lawsuit against Sonny Bono’s widow

Mary Bono had argued that she no longer needed to pay royalties to Cher after invoking a feature of US copyright law, but a judge has ruled otherwise

Cher has prevailed in a long-running lawsuit that she filed against the widow of her former musical partner and husband, Sonny Bono.

Cher had received royalties from her chart-topping song catalogue with Bono since an agreement in their 1978 divorce settlement, that stated publishing revenue would be split evenly between the pair. Bono died in 1998, and his share passed to his heirs.