Miley Cyrus denies plagiarizing Bruno Mars song for her Grammy-winning Flowers as she files to dismiss lawsuit
Miley Cyrus is fighting back against plagiarism claims over her hit single Flowers, denying accusations she copied Bruno Mars’ 2012 song When I Was Your Man.
Cyrus’ lawyers dismissed the copyright infringement lawsuit filed by Tempo Music Investments in September, arguing that the company lacks the standing to file a lawsuit, according to documents obtained by People on Wednesday.
Tempo Music, which owns a portion of the copyright to Mars’ song through co-writer Philip Lawrence’s catalog, is not affiliated with the song’s other co-writers, Ari Levine and Andrew Wyatt.
Cyrus’ legal team claims that only those with exclusive rights to a song can file such a lawsuit, and since Tempo is only a rights holder to one co-writer, they claim there are no legal grounds to file a lawsuit .
The lawsuit, which alleges Flowers plagiarized Mars’ ballad, was filed after fans and critics drew comparisons between the two songs.
However, Cyrus’ lawyers have asked for the case to be dismissed, stressing that “an assignee of only one co-author has no exclusive rights and therefore no standing to sue for infringement,” the newspaper said.
Miley Cyrus is fighting back against plagiarism claims over her hit single Flowers, denying accusations that she copied Bruno Mars’ 2012 song When I Was Your Man; (seen in February)
Cyrus’ lawyers have dismissed the copyright infringement lawsuit filed by Tempo Music Investments in September, arguing that the company lacks standing to file a lawsuit, according to documents obtained by People on Wednesday ; (Mars in 2017)
In the lawsuit, Tempo Music alleges that Miley “intentionally copied” Mars’ 2012 hit When I Was Your Man for her chart-topping single Flowers, citing substantial similarities between the two songs.
The investment company states that both the melody and harmonies in Flowers bear a striking similarity to the Mars song, especially in the verses and chorus.
Additionally, Tempo claims that the chord progressions in Cyrus’ song, co-written with Aldae (Gregory Hein) and Michael Pollack, mirror those in Mars’ ballad, and that some of the lyrics in Flowers are similar to those in When I Was Your Man. , which Mars co-wrote with Philip Lawrence, Ari Levine and Andrew Wyatt.
Tempo’s lawsuit goes so far as to state, “Based on the combination and number of similarities between the two recordings, it is undeniable that Flowers would not exist without When I Was Your Man.”
Both songs were major hits, each topping the Billboard Hot 100 chart.
While When I Was Your Man earned a 2014 Grammy nomination for Best Pop Solo Performance, Flowers went on to win Record of the Year – the same category for which Mars was nominated – and was also nominated for Song of the Year, although he wasn’t was. not take home the victory.
The lawsuit accuses Cyrus, her producers Kid Harpoon and Tyler Harper, as well as her label, of having access to Mars’ song, despite the fact that When I Was Your Man has been widely available through physical media and streaming for years.
Tempo Music is seeking unspecified damages and, even more drastically, asking for “Flowers” to be removed from digital platforms and future physical releases of Cyrus’ 2023 album Endless Summer Vacation.
Tempo Music, which claims to own part of Mars’ copyright, says Flowers is very similar to the melody, harmonies, chord structure and lyrics of When I Was Your Man; Cyrus pictured in the Flowers video
Mars’ song was on the charts in 2013, but did not win a Grammy. Cyrus’ song also topped the Billboard Hot 100, but she also won Record of the Year (for songwriters) and Best Pop Solo Performance, for which Mars was nominated but lost; Mars seen in 2021 in LA
The company is also trying to prevent Cyrus from performing the song in the future.
Interestingly enough, it is Tempo Music – and not Mars itself – that filed the lawsuit, after acquiring part of the song’s copyright.
In 2021, Mars sold part of his catalog to Warner Music Group, although he reportedly retained majority ownership.
Tempo, which was founded in 2019 by Warner and Providence Equity Partners with an initial investment of $650 million, focuses on the acquisition of song catalogs, including both master recordings and publishing rights.
While it is common for older artists to sell portions of their catalogs for significant amounts of money, it is less common for younger stars like Mars to do so, especially if they retain majority rights to their work.