Miley Cyrus is facing a copyright lawsuit over her hit song “Flowers,” which won Record of the Year and Best Pop Solo Performance at the 2024 Grammy Awards.
TMZ reports that the lawsuit filed by Tempo Music Investments alleges that Cyrus’ chart-topping song bears similarities to Bruno Mars’ 2012 song “When I Was Your Man.”
In legal filings, Tempo Music Investments claims to own a portion of the copyright to Mars’ song. The company argues that key elements of “Flowers” are allegedly borrowed from “When I Was Your Man,” including the chorus, harmony, melody, chord progression, and lyrics.
Since the release of “Flowers” last year, there has been much public discussion about the similarities between the two songs.
According to one Redditor on a thread, “It’s a play on ‘When I Was Your Man.’ From the other side of the relationship,” another replied, “Yes, but it should be listed as a collaboration and Bruno should be credited. That’s why she’s getting sued for it now.”
A third user said, “Yeah. Whatever relationship commentary she has, it doesn’t excuse this being a copied chorus from Bruno. Wish she’d do another ‘party in the States’ song,” referring to Cyrus’ 2009 hit.
“‘Flowers’ is not a copy, it’s directly inspired by ‘When I Was Your Man’. They’re supposed to sound similar; that’s the problem,” a fourth wrote, to which someone replied, “That doesn’t mean it’s condoned; it’s not original… it’s not her song… why didn’t she credit the source in the first place? ‘this is a Bruno Mars cover.'”
“Dude this is not a cover and it’s her own song… just because the lyrics are similar to When I Was Man doesn’t mean it’s a cover. This song was just inspired by ‘When I Was Your Man’,” one person said.
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Another debater stated, “The lyrics and melody are almost identical. I understand that [sic] not a big deal but it SHOULD NOT have won a Grammy.”
Someone said, “Yeah but when a newer young artist who takes ‘inspiration’ from a big artist they listened to as a kid gets sued, people say it’s fair. But when an adult like Miley or Drake does it, they get forgiven? Fine.”
One individual raised a point regarding the over-saturation of interpolation and sampling in contemporary popular music. They asked people in the thread if they were starting to get tired of the prevalence of these techniques.
They added, “Normally I don’t mind, but the amount of noise I’m hearing on the radio is becoming ridiculous.”
Another Redditor also made the point clear, saying, “I was also curious about the origins of the song. The similarities became obvious as soon as I heard her song and frantically Googled to see if they had collaborated, but couldn’t find anything.”
They continued, “I understand that it’s a ‘response’ and not a ‘copy’ but it’s SO SIMILAR that, in my humble and completely unimportant opinion, it doesn’t sound like it could be considered an original song. While I’m not personally a fan, it’s obvious that she has talent, but it seems like THIS song shouldn’t be getting as much praise as it is.”
In the complaint, Tempo Music is pursuing financial compensation, but no decision has yet been made.
In addition, Cyrus was also ordered to stop copying, distributing or performing the song Flowers.
Among the defendants listed in the lawsuit are Sony Music Publishing, along with Apple, Target, Walmart and several other companies allegedly involved in distributing the song “Flowers.”
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Miley Cyrus, Bruno Mars Tags