Similarities between Miley Cyrus’ Grammy-winning hit “Flowers” and Bruno Mars’ “When I Was Your Man” are now grounds for a lawsuit, according to a copyright infringement complaint recently filed against the pop diva.
Tempo Music Investments, a company that claims to own a portion of the copyright to Mars’ 2012 song, filed its lawsuit Monday in U.S. District Court for the Central District of California. It names Cyrus, her “Flowers” co-writers and several music companies, including Sony Music, Apple and iHeartMedia, as defendants, and accuses those parties of “unauthorized reproduction, distribution and exploitation of ‘When I Was Your Man.’”
Cyrus, Mars and Tempo Music Investment did not immediately respond to The Times' requests for comment Tuesday.
Tempo Music, according to legal documents reviewed by The Times, says it acquired the rights to “When I Was Your Man” in March 2020 through its acquisition of songwriter Philip Lawrence’s catalog. Lawrence co-wrote the breakup ballad with Mars (a 15-time Grammy winner) and other writers. “When I Was Your Man” was originally released in 2012 as part of Mars’ second album, “Unorthodox Jukebox.”
Cyrus released her own breakup anthem, “Flowers,” in January 2023, years after finalizing her divorce from “Hunger Games” star Liam Hemsworth. In the song, Cyrus sings about taking happiness and love into her own hands after a heartbreak. After the song was released, fans on social media were quick to notice the similarities between “Flowers” and “When I Was Your Man.”
Tempo Music alleges that Cyrus’ “Flowers” “duplicates numerous melodic, harmonic, and lyrical elements” of Mars’ song, stating that “‘Flowers’ would not exist without ‘When I Was Your Man.'”
The complaint discusses alleged similarities, specifically, between the chorus of “Flowers” and a verse and chorus of “When I Was Your Man.” As for the similarity of the lyrics about buying flowers, holding hands and talking for hours, Tempo Music alleges that “the musical similarities are not a coincidence.”
“Defendants neither requested nor received permission to copy or interpolate any portion of ‘When I Was Your Man’ into ‘Flowers,’” the lawsuit adds.
Tempo Music also claims that Cyrus and other defendants’ alleged “unauthorized” reproduction, distribution, performance and/or creation of a derivative work of Mars’ song infringes the company’s rights. “Defendants’ conduct has been, and continues to be, willful and conscious,” the suit says.
According to the complaint, Tempo Music wants a “permanent injunction” restraining the defendants from “reproducing, distributing, or publicly performing ‘Flowers.'” It also seeks an assessment of damages, including lost profits, statutory damages, legal fees, and other relief deemed “just and appropriate.”
At the 66th Grammy Awards earlier this year, Miley performed “Flowers” and took home her first two wins, in the categories of record of the year and pop solo performance.
“This award is amazing, but I really hope it doesn’t change anything because my life was beautiful yesterday,” she said as she accepted the record of the year trophy. “Not everyone in the world is going to get a Grammy, but everyone in this world is spectacular, so please don’t think this is important even though it is very important.”
