Let her have her flowers.
Miley Cyrus is refuting allegations her song “Flowers” plagiarizes elements of Bruno Mars’ hit “When I Was Your Man.”
According to court documents obtained by The Post, lawyers for the “Hannah Montana” star, 32, filed a motion to dismiss a copyright infringement lawsuit brought against her and her “Flowers” co-writers by Tempo Music Investments on Wednesday, Nov. 20.
Tempo Music owns part of the copyright for “When I Was Your Man,” having supposedly purchased the catalog of one of the song’s co-writer, Philip Lawrence, around 2020. The song’s other three songwriters — Bruno Mars, Philip Ari Levine and Andrew Wyatt — are not named as plaintiffs.
In their filing, lawyers for Cyrus and her co-writers say the hitmakers “categorically deny copying” Mars’ song, adding that “the allegedly copied elements [of ‘Flowers’] are random, scattered, unprotected ideas and musical building blocks.”
Cyrus co-wrote “Flowers” with Gregory Hein and Michael Pollack.
Their motion to dismiss also argues that Tempo Music’s lawsuit has a “fatal flaw,” namely that the company, in the eyes of the defendants, does not have legal standing to file an infringement claim as the firm only partially owns the “When I Was Your Man” copyright.
“Plaintiff unambiguously alleges that it obtained its claimed rights in the ‘When I Was Your Man’ copyright from only one of that musical composition’s four co-authors,” Cyrus’ lawyers write.
“That is a fatal and incurable defect in Plaintiff’s claim because the Copyright Act expressly provides that only owners of exclusive rights may sue for copyright infringement.”
The filing goes on to rebuff the specific plagiarism claims.
“Plaintiff alleges, for example, that ‘When I WasYour Man’ and ‘Flowers’ share a few chords, pitches, an abstract ‘overall melodic design,’ and words, none of which is protected by copyright. And Plaintiff’s transcriptions, even assuming they are correct, show striking differences in melody, chords, other musical elements, and words,” the document states.
The Post has reached out to lawyers for Cyrus and Tempo.
Tempo filed their suit against Cyrus on Sept. 16, claiming Cyrus’ song “is the result of intentional copying” of Mars’ track.
“Immediately upon the release of ‘Flowers,’ the public recognized the striking similarities between the song and ‘When I Was Your Man,’” according to Tempo’s lawyers.
“The melody (single lines of music) and harmony (chords and chord progressions) of the chorus in ‘Flowers’ are substantially similar to those of the verse in ‘When I Was Your Man.’ 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,’” they continued.
The complaint further alleged that a “comparison of the lyrics of the two songs also suggests that the musical similarities are no coincidence.”
“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.’ Accordingly, Plaintiff brings this action for copyright infringement arising out of Defendants’ unauthorized reproduction, distribution, and exploitation of ‘When I Was Your Man.’”
Tempo Music has asked the defendants to stop reproducing, distributing or publicly performing “Flowers,” and is seeking an undetermined amount of damages.
The Post has reached out to reps for Cyrus and Mars.