Miley Cyrus hit with lawsuit over Flowers' similarity to Bruno Mars song

Los Angeles, California - Miley Cyrus' Grammy-winning song Flowers is not a hit with Tempo Music Investments, who are now suing her over "striking similarities" to the 2013 Bruno Mars song When I Was Your Man.

Miley Cyrus accepts the Record Of The Year award for Flowers on stage during the 66th Annual Grammy Awards at the Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles on February 4, 2024.
Miley Cyrus accepts the Record Of The Year award for Flowers on stage during the 66th Annual Grammy Awards at the Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles on February 4, 2024.  © VALERIE MACON / AFP

Tempo Music Investments owns a share of the copyright in Mars' song after acquiring the music catalog of songwriter Philip Lawrence.

A lawsuit was filed in a Los Angeles court on Monday alleging that many have "recognized the striking similarities" between the two songs.

"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 documents say, noting that Cyrus' track Flowers "duplicates numerous melodic, harmonic, and lyrical elements" of the Mars song.

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Tempo Music Investments is seeking an as yet unknown amount in damages and reportedly wants Cyrus and the co-defendants to stop distributing, reproducing, and/or publicly performing Flowers.

This may be easier said than done, considering that the song is being used in a highly publicized Gucci campaign at the moment.

Along with Cyrus, songwriters Michael Pollack and Gregory Hein are named in the suit, as are defendants Apple and Sony Music Publishing.

Bruno Mars is not named as a plaintiff in the lawsuit.

Cover photo: VALERIE MACON / AFP

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