Miley Cyrus needs to lock up her flowers. Cyrus was sued on September 16 for copyright infringement over her song âFlowers,â and has now denied the allegations and filed to dismiss the suit. Tempo Music Investments claims the song âduplicates numerous melodic, harmonic, and lyrical elementsâ from Bruno Marsâs âWhen I Was Your Man,â according to People. The similarities between the two songs have been noted since Cyrus put out âFlowersâ in 2023 â with some publications even referring to âFlowersâ as having a âsampleâ of the Mars track. The lyrical similarities may be obvious, but are they illegal?
Wait, so is Bruno Mars suing Miley Cyrus?
No, not at all. Mars is notably not named as a plaintiff in the suit. Instead, the suit comes from Tempo Music Investments, a group that buys up music rights. Tempo previously purchased the rights to songwriter Philip Lawrenceâs catalogue, and Lawrence was a songwriter on âWhen I Was Your Man.â Now, theyâre using that purchase to get litigious with it, suing Cyrus for a unknown sum and to stop her from performing or distributing the song. Fellow âFlowersâ songwriters Gregory Hein and Michael Pollack Bruno, plus Apple and Sony Music Publishing, are named as defendants. Mars, as far as we know, has nothing to do with the lawsuit and even had to deal with his own version of this when âUptown Funkâ got sued thrice over for taking from the Zapp song âMore Bounce to the Ounce,â Collageâs âYoung Girls,â and Sequenceâs âFunk You Up.â The first two of those suits have settled.
What is this lawsuit about?
Miley Cyrus and her co-songwriters are being sued for copyright infringement of Bruno Marsâs âWhen I Was Your Man.â Lyrics in her song, âFlowers,â are often interpreted as a response to Marsâs song. Mars, on his track, sings âI shoulda bought you flowers, and held your hand,â and he bemoans that he didnât âtake you to every party, cause all you wanted to do was dance.â In âFlowers,â Cyrus sings, âI can buy myself flowers,â âI can take myself dancing, and I can hold my own hand.â It has been said by fans that she references âWhen I Was Your Manâ because Liam Hemsworth dedicated the song to her at their engagement party, but thereâs no confirmation that happened. And if it did ⌠yikes.)
Despite this lyrical connection, âFlowersâ does not credit Mars or the other songwriters of âWhen I Was Your Man.â When âFlowersâ debuted, Billboard reported that Cyrus did not have âsonicâ similarities to Marsâs song, only lyrical ones. Cyrusâs track therefore didnât need to give credit, especially given the long history of response, or answer, songs. The new lawsuit claims that the two songs share melody, harmony, and chorus, per People. âIt is undeniable based on the combination and number of similarities between the two recordings that âFlowersâ would not exist without âWhen I Was Your Man,ââ the suit reportedly claims.
How has Miley Cyrus responded?
Her legal team has denied the allegations of plagiarism and filed to dismiss the lawsuit, according to court documents obtained by People and Rolling Stone in November. According to the dismissal motion, the songwriter defendants âcategorically deny copying, and the allegedly copied elements are random, scattered, unprotected ideas and musical building blocks.â
Cyrusâs attorneys also claim that thereâs a âfatal flawâ with this lawsuit. Tempo Music Investments purchased Philip Lawrenceâs rights, but not those of the other âWhen I Was Your Manâ songwriters. The dismissal motion argues that only exclusive copyright holders are legally allowed to sue for infringement, so Tempo doesnât have the right to do so as a partial copyright owner. Now weâve just got to wait for the flowers (the lawsuit) to grow (get in front of a judge).
This post has been updated.