Cher has reached another milestone in her long-running legal dispute over music royalties fees connected to her late ex-husband, Sonny Bono. Although the music icon previously secured a major courtroom victory over unpaid royalties, a recent ruling means she must now cover her own attorney’s fees after years of litigation.
According to People, the latest decision follows a federal judge’s rejection of Cher’s request to recover more than $1 million in legal expenses from Mary Bono, Sonny Bono’s widow. While Cher successfully defended her contractual rights to royalties, the court concluded that the law governing the dispute did not allow her to shift those legal costs to Mary Bono.
cher bono legal fees royalties
Cher is involved in a legal fees battle concerning royalties
The legal battle began in 2021 when Cher sued Mary Bono, claiming she had withheld royalties from songs Cher recorded with Sonny Bono, including classics such as I Got You Babe and The Beat Goes On. Cher argued that her 1978 divorce agreement guaranteed her a 50% share of those royalties and accused Mary Bono of trying to terminate those rights through provisions of U.S. copyright law.
In 2024, the court agreed with Cher and awarded her more than $418,000 in unpaid royalties. Following that victory, the singer asked the court to require Mary Bono to reimburse more than $1 million in attorney’s fees, arguing that she incurred those costs while successfully enforcing her contractual rights.
Why the judge denied the request
In the latest ruling involving Cher Bono, Judge John A. Kronstadt found that the dispute centered on contract law rather than federal copyright law. As a result, he denied Cher’s request to recover legal fees, leaving her to cover her own attorneys’ costs. While the decision doesn’t affect her earlier courtroom victory or royalty award, it closes another chapter in the long-running legal battle.
The case highlights how complicated royalty agreements can become decades after artists sign them. Although Cher Bono successfully protected her right to royalties from her recordings with Sonny Bono, the latest decision shows that winning a lawsuit does not always mean recovering every dollar spent in court.
