How long has Miley Cyrus’ ‘Flowers’ copyright infringement lawsuit been going on? Singer issues response, notes “fatal flaw”

Miley Cyrus has finally filed her response to the copyright infringement lawsuit over her 2023 hit, Flowers on November 20, 2024. The lawsuit filed in September 2023 by Tempo Music claimed that Miley copied many portions of her track from Bruno Mars’ 2013 song When I Was Your Man. Cyrus now demands the dismissal of the lawsuit as they rejected the claims of copying any elements from the track.

Miley Cyrus and her attorneys have stated in their response that the case is an “incurable defect,” as Tempo Music, being an investment firm does not have the right to file any complaint without the involvement of Bruno Mars, who is the creator of When I Was Your Man, or any of the co-authors. It is worth noting, that Bruno Mars had not been named in the list of plaintiffs in the initial lawsuit filed.

The response issued by Miley Cyrus also talks about the “fatal flaw,” as the defendants claimed:

"The songwriter defendants categorically deny copying, and the allegedly copied elements are random, scattered, unprotected ideas and musical building blocks. However, the plaintiff's claim suffers another fatal flaw that mandates dismissal at the pleading stage: the Copyright Act expressly provides that only a legal or beneficial owner of an exclusive copyright right may sue for infringement. Plaintiff is neither and, as a result, it lacks standing to bring this action."

For the unversed, Tempo Music, the investment company filed a lawsuit against Miley Cyrus, naming her co-writers, and music companies like Sony Music, Apple Music and even iHeartMedia as defendants. The lawsuit made claims that the defendants had copied lyrical, harmonic, and various other elements from Bruno Mars’ songs.

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Miley Cyrus and attorneys call Bruno Mars' absence a "fatal flaw" in Tempo Music lawsuit

After more than a year of filing the case, Miley Cyrus finally responded to the lawsuit and alleged that the complaint filed had an “incurable and fatal flaw,” as her attorneys claimed that Tempo Music had no right to file the case unless they had involved Bruno Mars in the same.

Miley Cyrus, who is being repped by Peter Anderson, exclaimed that Tempo Music has “non-exclusive rights” to the song, and such limited right does not give them the power to sue. However, the singer and her attorneys also claimed a slight similarity in the opening lines, as they mentioned in their response:

“Indeed, the opening vocal line from the chorus of ‘Flowers’ begins and ends on the same chords as the opening vocal line in the verse of ‘When I was Your Man."

This is because Mars sings in his song:

“I should have brought you flowers and held your hand.”

While Miley Cyrus tweaked the lines and sang:

“I can buy myself flowers and I can hold my own hand.”

The lawsuit filed by Tempo Music also stated the fact, as they explained that the two songs have the “same musical fingerprint.” The company said in their lawsuit:

“A comparison of the lyrics of the two songs also suggests that the musical similarities are no coincidence.”

Flowers, a hit track from Miley Cyrus’ eighth studio album was released in January 2023. The song became an instant hit when it was released, as it received many awards and nominations. Miley won the Brit Award, IFPI Global Single Award, Billboard Music Award, NRJ Music Award, her debut Grammy Awards, and even the Japan Gold Disc Award for the song.

On the other hand, When I Was Your Man was released by Bruno Mars in 2012, as it was a part of his second studio album, Unorthodox Jukebox. The song managed to top many charts in countries like Australia, Canada, Belgium, France, Italy, Japan, Mexico and even the United States of America.

While Miley and her attorneys filed their response after a year, the plaintiffs or their representatives or lawyers have not yet addressed the same. At the same time, Bruno Mars has also remained tight-lipped on the matter.