Photo: Peter Denton via Wikimedia Commons I Got Royalties, Babe: L.A. Federal Court Sides With Cher On Income from Sonny's Song Interests
The U.S. District Court for the Central District of California has decided that the termination by Mary Bono of grants made by her late husband Sonny Bono under the copyright-assignment termination provision of the Copyright Act didn't affect royalty rights under a 1978 marital settlement agreement between Sonny and ex-wife Cher.
June 27, 2024 at 10:50 AM
5 minute read
What You Need to Know
- After Sonny died in a skiing accident in 1998, Mary Bono agreed to a confirmation of Cher's continued rights under a 1978 marital settlement agreement.
- In 2016, Mary sent termination notices to music publishers to which Sonny had assigned his copyright interests.
- Cher argued that Mary has undone her ownership of her royalties from the songs and recordings that she and Sonny made famous during their marriage, and deprived her of long-established rights under the 1978 agreement.
After Beach Boy Brian Wilson's ex-wife Marilyn filed a request in Los Angeles Superior Court for an accounting and for payment, under the couple's 1981 divorce judgment, of 50% of the monies Brian received from his 2021 sale of his song rights to Universal Music, Brian's counsel had the case removed to Los Angeles federal court citing federal question jurisdiction. This was because the songs sale occurred after Brian had recaptured his copyrights under the 17 U.S.C. §304(c) copyright-assignment termination provision of the U.S. Copyright Act. Wilson v. Rutherford, 2:22-cv-01982 (C.D.Calif. 2022).
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