Miley Cyrus, Sony Music, and Major Companies Hit With Copyright Lawsuit Over 'Flowers' Similarities to Bruno Mars Hit
Miley Cyrus and several major companies face a copyright infringement lawsuit over alleged similarities between her hit song "Flowers" and Bruno Mars' "When I Was Your Man."
Tempo Music Investments, which owns a stake in Mars' song through co-writer Philip Lawrence, filed the complaint in California federal court. The lawsuit claims "Flowers" heavily borrows from "When I Was Your Man" without permission.
Miley Cyrus singing onstage
The plaintiff argues that "Flowers" duplicates multiple elements from Mars' track, including:
- Melodic pitch design and verse sequence
- Bass-line
- Chorus segments
- Theatrical music elements
- Lyric elements
- Chord progressions
The lawsuit names numerous defendants beyond Cyrus, including:
- Sony Music Publishing
- Concord
- Multiple streaming services (Apple, Pandora, Deezer, Tidal, SoundCloud)
- Live Nation
- Retailers (Walmart, Target)
Both songs have achieved significant commercial success:
- "When I Was Your Man" has 2.26 billion Spotify streams
- "Flowers" reached one billion streams faster than any other track, currently at 2.20 billion plays
The case notably includes retailers and streaming platforms for their role in distributing and selling both songs. Live Nation is named for selling the song through Cyrus's official store, while Walmart is cited for selling both tracks in physical stores.
Miley Cyrus singing on stage
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