Cher must pay $1M fees after Mary Bono royalties win

Cher must cover more than $1 million in her own legal fees after winning a royalties fight with Mary Bono, Sonny Bono’s widow. A federal judge denied her bid to make Mary repay the $1,023,605 bill, ruling the cher mary bono royalties dispute turned on contract law—not copyright rules that sometimes shift costs.

Key Takeaways

• Judge John A. Kronstadt denied Cher’s request that Mary Bono repay more than $1 million in legal fees.
• Cher remains the overall winner on royalties from her 1978 divorce settlement with Sonny Bono.
• The judge said the case arose under California contract law, so Copyright Act fee-shifting rules did not apply.
• Mary Bono is appealing Cher’s earlier victory; a federal appeals court has not yet ruled.

What did the judge decide on Cher’s legal fees?

In a decision dated Monday, July 20, and first reported by Billboard, U.S. District Judge John A. Kronstadt refused Cher’s motion for reimbursement. He wrote that the motion was denied because the action arises under California contract law, not federal copyright termination rules.

Cher had argued Mary “dragged” the case out for years with “unreasonable positions” and sought repayment of attorney’s fees she said totaled $1,023,605. Her lawyers claimed Mary repeatedly and frivolously argued that a federal statute extinguished state-law rights.

Why does the cher mary bono royalties ruling still favor Cher?

Late last year, Kronstadt issued a final judgment—signed Nov. 26, 2025—confirming Cher’s win in the four-year fight. He held Mary could not use the federal Copyright Act to reclaim the 50 percent share of Sonny’s composition royalties granted to Cher in the 1978 divorce agreement.

That settlement gave Cher a permanent half of publishing revenue from songs written before the split, including “I Got You Babe,” “The Beat Goes On,” and “Baby Don’t Go.” The judge also ruled Cher keeps the right to receive composition and record royalties paid directly to her, even after she sold rights to Irving Azoff’s Iconic Artists Group in 2022.

Mary had argued copyright termination rights—usable decades after grants—let her void the divorce payouts. Kronstadt rejected that in a May 2024 decision, saying the settlement was financial compensation, not a copyright assignment. For more on how contracts and rights collide in modern entertainment, see Future Tech & AI Wonders on BlasterPost.

What happens next in the royalties appeal?

Mary is challenging Cher’s earlier victory at a federal appeals court, which has not yet ruled. Lawyers for Mary told Rolling Stone they had no comment; Cher’s counsel did not immediately respond to requests for comment from Billboard or Rolling Stone.

Sonny Bono died in a 1998 skiing accident, leaving Mary to helm his estate. Publishing grants became eligible for termination beginning in 2018, and Mary notified publishers of her intent to reclaim certain interests—setting up the 2021 dispute that led to this costly win for Cher.