Why Is Miley Cyrus Being Sued Over Her Hit Track ‘Flowers’?

Sara Delgado
·3 min read
7

Composite: Getty Images

Ever since Miley Cyrus released "Flowers" on January 13, 2023, coinciding with Liam Hemsworth's 33rd birthday, the song has been consistently racking up accolades, breaking records and nabbing nods at the Billboard Music Awards, Brit Awards, and even the Grammys. Now, the track is making headlines again, not because of a new award or achievement, but because of a new lawsuit filed against Cyrus, which claims the song copies Bruno Mars's 2013 track “When I Was Your Man.”

As noted by multiple publications, including People and The Guardian, a company called Tempo Music Investments filed a lawsuit on Monday, September 16, 2024, at a Los Angeles court claiming parts of Cyrus's hit track have "striking similarities" with “When I Was Your Man.”

While Bruno Mars is notably not a plaintiff in the filing, Tempo Music Investments owns a share of the U.S. copyright of the song after purchasing the rights from credited co-writer Philip Lawrence. (The song features four credited writers, including Mars, Lawrence, Ari Levine, and Andrew Wyatt.)

"It is undeniable based on the combination and number of similarities between the two recordings that 'Flowers' would not exist without 'When I Was Your Man,' "the documents reportedly state, per People.

Per The Guardian, the lawsuit also alleges Cyrus's song "duplicates numerous melodic, harmonic, and lyrical elements" from Mars's song, “including the melodic pitch design and sequence of the verse, the connecting bass line, certain bars of the chorus, certain theatrical music elements, lyric elements, and specific chord progressions.”

Liam Hemsworth, largely belived to be the inspiration behind “Flowers,” and Miley Cyrus at one of their last public apperances together as a couple.

In addition to Cyrus herself, the lawsuit also names "Flowers" co-writers Gregory Hein and Michael Pollack, accusing the three of creating "a derivative work of 'When I Was Your Man' without authorization."

So, what does this actually mean? What's going to happen to "Flowers" and Cyrus? Well, Tempo Music Investments wants to prohibit the star from reproducing, distributing, or publicly performing "Flowers" in the future. They are also reportedly seeking yet-to-be-disclosed damages, which would be decided at trial.

To say "Flowers" has been the biggest turning point in Cyrus's career would be an understatement. Earlier this year, the singer earned her first two Grammys, for Record of the Year and Best Pop Solo Performance, with the song, which ended up being part of her eighth studio album Endless Summer Vacation.

Though Cyrus has never explicitly spoken about the inspiration behind "Flowers," fans have put two and two together to theorize it's largely about her marriage and consequent divorce from Liam Hemsworth.

Even before the lawsuit, fans and critics alike had drawn parallels with Mars's "When I Was Your Man," not because of its musicality but because Cyrus's chorus paraphrases that of Mars's 2013 song, which Hemsworth once allegedly dedicated to Cyrus.

Related: Miley Cyrus Reveals the Moment She Knew Her Marriage to Liam Hemsworth Was Over

Previously, Billboard had reported that since the song references "When I Was Your Man" lyrically but "does not sample or interpolate any melodic elements from the song," crediting was not a requirement. "Merely using some of the same words as an older song is not considered grounds for infringement," the publication explained.

News of this Tempo Music Investments' lawsuit against Cyrus comes just weeks after Cyrus made history as the youngest recipient of Disney Legend status, which she celebrated with an emotional speech looking back at her career.

Originally Appeared on Teen Vogue

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