Miley Cyrus may have gained significant success with her song “Flowers,” but she now finds herself dealing with a legal challenge.
The release of “Flowers” in 2023 marked a pivotal moment in Cyrus’ career, transitioning from her Disney character Hannah Montana to her current phase with the album “Latest Summer Vacation.”
Despite the song’s success—achieving over two billion streams on Spotify and earning Cyrus two Grammy Awards—controversy arose with allegations that the song plagiarized a Bruno Mars hit.
Although Bruno Mars has not personally accused Cyrus, Tempo Music Investments, a company that holds a portion of the copyright for his song “When I Was Your Man,” filed a lawsuit against her in September.
The lawsuit claims that “Flowers” would not exist without utilizing “numerous melodic, harmonic, and lyrical elements” from “When I Was Your Man.” These include similarities in the verse’s melodic pitch design, bass-line, parts of the chorus, theatrical elements, lyrics, and chord progressions.
“When I Was Your Man,” released in 2013, features Mars singing: “I should’ve bought you flowers/And held your hand/Should’ve gave you all my hours/When I had the chance/Take you to every party/’Cause all you wanted to do was dance.”
In contrast, Cyrus’ “Flowers” includes the lyrics: “I can buy myself flowers/Write my name in the sand/Talk to myself for hours/Say things you don’t understand/I can take myself dancing/I can hold my own hand.”
On November 20, Cyrus’ legal team responded by filing a motion to dismiss the lawsuit in California’s Central District Court.
Tempo Music Investments gained rights to the song by acquiring songwriter Philip Lawrence’s catalog.
Cyrus’ lawyers contend the case should be dismissed because the lawsuit only represents one of the four writers of “When I Was Your Man”—the others being Bruno Mars, Ari Levine, and Andrew Wyatt. The Copyright Act only allows a ‘legal or beneficial owner of an exclusive copyright’ to file for infringement.
Additionally, Cyrus’ attorneys argue that despite some shared “musical building blocks,” there are “striking differences in melody, chords, other musical elements, and words” between the two tracks.