Sonny Bono's widow used a 2016 copyright termination notice to stop paying Cher her half of his song royalties, and a federal judge ruled for Cher

Sonny Bono died on 5 January 1998, aged 62, after hitting a tree while skiing at Heavenly Mountain Resort in South Lake Tahoe. Under their 10 August 1978 marriage settlement agreement, Cher owned 50% of the royalties from songs he wrote or acquired before 1 February 1974, including "I Got You Babe". His widow, Mary Bono, became administrator of his estate. Cher filed a creditor's claim in 1998; the Las Vegas Sun reported that it sought back alimony from an estate valued at $1.66 million and named no amount. In April 1999 a judge in Indio, California, ordered a Nevada coroner to release Sonny's blood so that Sean Machu, 35, could test whether he was Sonny's son, and Mary Bono and Machu agreed to keep the result confidential. In July 1999 Mary Bono, as administrator, filed an agreement acknowledging Cher's interest in ongoing royalties. On 30 September 2016 Mary Bono served notice under section 304(c) of the Copyright Act ending Sonny's pre-1978 grants to music publishers, without Cher's knowledge. When the terminations took effect she stopped paying Cher her share of US composition royalties. Cher sued her in federal court in Los Angeles on 13 October 2021. On 29 May 2024 Judge John A. Kronstadt ruled that Cher's rights came from a California contract the notice could not end, noting that "a right to receive royalties is distinct from a grant of copyright". His judgment of 26 November 2025 awarded Cher $187,534.91 plus 7% annual interest from 1 February 2022. Mary Bono appealed on 22 December 2025; her lawyer, Daniel Schacht, said "Judge Kronstadt's got the law wrong on copyright terminations". On 17 July 2026 Kronstadt denied Cher's request for $1,023,605 in legal fees because the case arose under contract law, and Cher appealed on 30 July 2026. Status: consolidated cross-appeals pending in the Ninth Circuit (Nos. 25-8085 and 26-4919), with the third brief due 23 December 2026.