Miley Cyrus and her songwriting team behind her Grammy-winning hit, “Flowers,” have been sued over accusations that the song copies portions of Bruno Mars’ track, “When I Was Your Man.” The lawsuit was filed on Monday (September 16) in Los Angeles federal court by Tempo Music Investments, who claim Cyrus’ Billboard No.1 hit uses unauthorized parts of Mars’ 2013 chart-topping hit. The suit includes Sony Music Publishing, Apple, and multiple retail outlets as defendants who are all accused of distributing “Flowers.”
Tempo Music claims it owns a portion of the U.S. copyright to “When I Was Your Man,” acquiring the rights from Philip Lawrence, who co-wrote the song with Mars, Ari Levine, and Andrew Wyatt. “It is undeniable based on the number of similarities between the two recordings that ‘Flowers’ would not exist without ‘When I Was Your Man,’” reads the complaint. Tempo Music seeks undisclosed financial damages and a court order prohibiting the defendants from distributing and publicly performing “Flowers.” Representatives for Cyrus have not commented. (Variety)
