Miley Cyrus, 31, has been sued for allegedly ripping off Bruno Mars’ “When I Was Your Man” for her Grammy-winning hit song “Flowers.”
(Jordan Strauss, Associated Press.)
The lawsuit, initiated in a California federal court on Monday by Tempo Music Investments, claims that Miley Cyrus engaged in "intentional copying," amounting to copyright infringement. Tempo Music Investments, which acquired a portion of the rights to the Mars track from songwriter Philip Lawrence in 2020, is spearheading the action.
Additionally, songwriters Gregory Hein and Michael Pollock, who co-wrote the song with Cyrus, along with Sony Music Publishing and various distributors such as Apple, Live Nation, and Amazon, are also named in the complaint. However, Bruno Mars is not implicated on either side of the case.
“Flowers,” written after Cyrus’ divorce with Liam Hemsworth, became an overnight hit when it debuted in January 2023 at the top of the Billboard Hot 100 chart, where it stayed for eight weeks. A year later, it earned Cyrus her first Grammy.
(David Croft, Getty Images.)
Similarities between the two tracks were immediately apparent. Cyrus’ song is regarded by many listeners as an interpolation of “When I Was Your Man,” which was released in 2013.
Tempo Music’s complaint alleges “Flowers” is an unauthorized derivative, drawing heavily from Mars’ original composition. The complaint highlights significant resemblances in the melody, harmonic structure, and chorus, arguing that these elements constitute a direct infringement of the earlier record.
“Indeed, the opening vocal line from the chorus of ‘Flowers’ begins and ends on the same chords as the opening vocal line in the verse of ‘When I was Your Man.'” states the complaint.
The lawsuit details overlaps in the melodic design of the songs, which Tempo Music says share the same “musical fingerprint.” It also cites a side-by-side comparison of the lyrics. While Mars sings “That I should have brought you flowers and held your hand,” Cyrus sings “I can buy myself flowers and I can hold my own hand,” for instance.
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