Cher is suing ex-husband Sonny Bono's widow Mary Bono.
According to a lawsuit filed by the singer's lawyers and obtained by E! News, Cher alleges the former U.S. House of Representatives member tried to undo the divorce agreement that granted the singer 50 percent ownership of royalties and other assets amassed during her marriage to her late ex-husband.
The court documents state the lawsuit "has become necessary because now, more than forty years after [Cher] received her 50% ownership of her and Sonny's community property, Sonny's fourth wife and widow, defendant Mary Bono, claims that a wholly inapplicable statutory termination provision of the Copyright Act of 1976... has undone [Cher's] ownership of her royalties from the songs and recordings that she and Sonny made famous during their marriage, and deprived [Cher] of other long-established rights under the 1978 agreement."
The filing additionally says that, in the 1978 divorce proceedings, Sonny and Cher agreed to "the equal division" of all assets acquired before their separation in 1974.
Sonny also allegedly granted Cher the right to "approve all other agreements with third parties respecting the musical compositions and composition royalties," which includes their hit songs "I Got You Babe" and "The Beat Goes On."
According to the documents, Mary acknowledged Cher's ownership of royalties and other assets when she became administrator of Sonny's estate following his fatal skiing accident in 1998.
Then, the documents allege, in 2016, Mary and Wixen Publications "issued a notice of termination to various music publishers or other companies to whom Sonny had granted a transfer or license of the renewal copyrights, or rights under them, in the Musical Compositions."
Cher's lawyers said the termination notice was done without her "knowledge or participation."
According to the documents, Cher was notified in September that her right to the royalties was terminated and she no longer has "approval rights."
But the documents state Cher "disputes each of The Bono Collection Trust's contentions," and alleges Mary and others "have breached" their contract. "As a direct and proximate result of defendants' breaches, [Cher] has sustained damages, and will continue to sustain damages, in an amount not presently known but believed to exceed $1,000,000," the lawsuit reads. "[Cher] is entitled to and requests the imposition of a constructive trust on the undivided fifty percent of Royalties that she owns but which [Mary and others] have received and failed to pay over to her or instruct that she be paid directly."
Mary hasn't filed a response to the lawsuit, but in a statement to E! News, her lawyer Daniel Schacht asserted, "The Copyright Act allows Sonny's widow and children to reclaim Sonny's copyrights from publishers, which is what they did. Representative Bono remains open to continuing a private discussion about this, but we are confident that, if necessary, the court will affirm their position."
Following Sonny's tragic death in 1998, Mary and Cher came together to honor the singer-turned-politician and have collaborated on numerous endeavors, including the 2012 GLAAD Media Awards.