Miley Cyrus is facing a potential wrecking ball: a copyright infringement lawsuit regarding her Grammy-winning song, «Flowers.»
Cyrus, 31, was sued in U.S. District Court for the Central District of California on Monday, with a lawsuit accusing her and her fellow «Flowers» songwriters of copying portions of the 2013 Bruno Mars song, «When I Was Your Man.»
Tempo Music Investments, which said it owns a portion of the copyright of «When I Was Your Man» after acquiring it from one of the song’s writers, Philip Lawrence, brought the suit over the defendants’ alleged «unauthorized reproduction, distribution, and exploitation» of the song.
Lawrence co-wrote «When I Was Your Man» with Mars, Ari Levine, and Andrew Wyatt.
Mars is not named as a plaintiff in the suit, and a representative for the singer did not immediately respond to a request for comment from NBC News.
More than two dozen other companies accused of distributing the song were also named in the lawsuit.
A representative for Cyrus did not immediately respond to a request for comment from NBC News.
What claims does the lawsuit make?
In the suit, attorneys for Tempo Music Investments argued that the similarities between the songs are «the result of intentional copying.”
«Any fan of Bruno Mars’ ‘When I Was Your Man’ knows that Miley Cyrus’ ‘Flowers’ did not achieve all of that success on its own,» Tempo’s legal team said in the suit.
«Flowers’ duplicates numerous melodic, harmonic, and lyrical elements of ‘When I Was Your Man,’ 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.»
Tempo’s attorneys pointed to the harmony and melody of the chorus of both of the songs, which they said were «substantially similar.»
Also, the attorneys argued, many of the lyrics of the two songs’ choruses include the same words, or words that rhyme.
The suit quoted lyrics from «When I Was Your Man»: «That I should’ve bought you flowers/And held your hand/Should have gave you all my hours …/Take you to every party, ‘cause all you wanted to do was dance.»
It compared those to the lyrics of Cyrus’ song: «I can buy myself flowers/And I can hold my own hand/Talk to myself for hours/I can take myself dancing.»
Tempo also alleged the songs have the same chord progression and a similar «dramatic pause» in the chorus, as well as a similar melodic design in the post-chorus section.
«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 lawsuit said.
The company is seeking damages in an amount to be determined at trial, and for a judge to prevent Cyrus and the other defendants from reproducing, distributing and publicly performing «Flowers.»
Cyrus performed the song at the 2024 Grammy Awards in February, where she won her first Grammy in her nearly 20-year career. «Flowers» spent six weeks at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart in 2023.
This article was originally published on TODAY.com
