A federal judge has denied Cher's request to force Mary Bono, the widow of her former husband Sonny Bono, to repay over $1 million in legal fees Cher incurred while fighting Mary's attempt to halt royalty payments from their 1978 divorce settlement. Although Cher ultimately won the underlying dispute, Judge John A. Kronstadt ruled that the case was governed by California contract law rather than federal copyright law, meaning the copyright statute's fee-shifting provisions did not apply. As a result, Cher must cover her own legal costs despite prevailing in the years-long litigation.

The dispute began in 2021 when Mary Bono argued that copyright's "termination right" allowed her to stop paying Cher the permanent 50% share of publishing royalties from pre-divorce songs, including "The Beat Goes On" and "Baby Don't Go", that was set out in the 1978 settlement. Kronstadt rejected that argument in May 2024, ruling the settlement was a financial contract rather than a copyright assignment, and finalised the decision in Cher's favour in November. Cher's legal bill reportedly reached $1,023,605, and Mary is now appealing the original ruling at a federal appeals court, which has yet to decide the case.