LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA: Legendary songstress Cher is fighting for her royalty rights against Sonny Bono’s widow Mary. The 77-year-old ‘Strong Enough’ singer has asked the court to dismiss the claims filed against her by Mary.
As per documents obtained by RadarOnline, the ‘Believe’ songstress claimed that Mary tried to collect the royalties of her and Bono's joint musical properties including songs such as ‘The Beat Goes On’ and ‘I Got You Babe’. It all started in 2021 when Cher filed a case against Mary saying she was withholding 50% of the royalties earned from Cher and Bono’s joint hits. The musical pair had divorced in 1975.
In the 2021 lawsuit, Cher mentioned that when she and Bono separated in 1975, they agreed to split up the royalties evenly. However, she was not receiving the money owed to her, and Mary was collecting it illegally. Demanding a sum of $1M in damages, she requested the court to grant the divorce agreement as valid.
As written in the marriage settlement act (MSA), Bono continued to pay 50% royalties for the songs written during their marriage even after their divorce. After Bono’s death in 1998, Mary continued to do the same until 2016, when the Bono Collection Trust and Bono’s heirs stopped paying Cher the royalties which motivated the songstress to sue them.
Mary filed a motion to dismiss by saying that while in 1978, “Sonny could grant Cher his then-current rights, including a 50% royalty interest in his copyrights,” he could not have legally “signed away” his heirs’ future rights of termination. “The heirs’ right to terminate under the Copyright Act preempts Cher’s state law breach of contract claim,” tthe motion read, adding, “Therefore, her claim fails.”
After that, a countersuit was filed against Cher by Mary which said, “Cher and Mary cooperated in 1999 and again in 2011 in developing a mutually acceptable mechanism for the collection and proper disbursement of the Royalties, and they cooperated for over twenty years in implementing that mechanism. Unfortunately, that cooperation has now broken down.” Cher has now moved against the counterclaim urging the court to move forward with her original suit dismissing the counterclaim.
Who is Mary Bono?
Mary is a politician, businesswoman and lobbyist. Born Mary Whitaker, she married actor, singer and politician Sonny Bono in 1986. The ‘Hairspray’ star died in 1998 while he was a US House of Representatives member. After his death in the skiing accident, Mary was elected to the Congress in 1998. While in office, she served Palm Springs and parts of the central and eastern Riverside County of California from 1998 to 2013.
As a member of the Republican Party, Mary was in the Energy and Commerce Committee, becoming the Chairwoman of the Subcommittee on Commerce, Manufacturing and Trade later. One of the major achievements in her political career was that she was a part of the House Judiciary Committee that approved articles of impeachment against President Bill Clinton. Mary has been an advocate of homosexual marriages throughout her career and was a signatory in support of same-sex marriages during the Hollingsworth v Perry case in 2013.
Post her career in Congress, Mary became the vice-president of the federal affairs firm, Faegre Baker Daniels Consulting. In 2018, she founded consulting firm, Integritas by Bono.
Mary previously worked as a cocktail waitress before marrying Bono in 1986. After his death, she began dating the drummer of the Country band Diamond Rio, Brian Prout. Despite getting engaged in 2001, they did not marry. She tied the knot with businessman Glenn Baxley later the same year. In 2005, they parted ways. Mary got married to Congressman Connie Mack IV (R-FL) in 2007. The couple filed for divorce in 2013. Later in 2015, the seasoned politician married former astronaut Stephen S Oswald.
'The court recognized some of the flaws in Cher’s case'
As per a ruling in March, the judge has declined to dismiss Cher’s case completing. The judge said that as per the agreement, Cher could proceed with claims regarding song royalties and amended claims recording royalties. After the judgment, Bono’s representative told Billboard, “We are happy that the court recognized some of the flaws in Cher’s case at this preliminary stage, and we look forward to resolving the remainder of the case”.
