Photo Credit: Miley Cyrus by Raph PH / CC by 2.0
Miley Cyrus and her attorneys argue the case wasn’t even filed by Bruno Mars or the song’s co-writers, but by an investment firm.
A lawsuit filed back in September alleging Miley Cyrus’ hit “Flowers” infringes the copyright to Bruno Mars’ “When I Was Your Man,” has received its first response from Cyrus and her legal team. And they point out a rather significant “fatal” flaw — that Bruno Mars and his other co-writers aren’t the ones suing.
The case was actually filed by an entity called Tempo Music Investments, which bought out one of the co-writers to “When I Was Your Man.” In her response, Miley and her team assert the total lack of involvement from Mars or any of the song’s creators means that the lawsuit should be dismissed outright.
“Plaintiff unambiguously [says] that it obtained its claimed rights in the ‘When I Was Your Man’ copyright from only one of the musical composition’s four co-authors,” write Cyrus’ attorneys. “That is a fatal and incurable defect in plaintiff’s claim.”
Cyrus’ team, led by Peter Anderson of Davis Wright Tremaine, argues that Tempo’s acquisition of “partial interest” from songwriter Philip Lawrence only entitles the company to “non-exclusive rights” to the song. And that, her lawyers say, doesn’t give them legal standing to sue under federal copyright law.
“Plaintiff brings this copyright infringement action alone — without any of that musical composition’s co-authors or other owners,” writes Anderson. “Without the consent of the other owners, a grant of rights from just one co-owner does not confer standing.”
But Tempo’s lead counsel, Alex Weingarten of the firm Willkie Farr, tells Billboard that the motion filed by Cyrus’ team is “intellectually dishonest,” and his clients absolutely had legal standing. “They’re seeking to make bogus technical arguments because they don’t have an actual substantive defense to the case,” he said.
The comparison between the two songs is not a new one; fans pointed out their similarities upon Cyrus’ release of “Flowers” in January 2023. Many believe the Cyrus track is intended as an “answer song” to Mars’ “When I Was Your Man,” with its obviously referential lyrics.
But Tempo’s lawsuit argues “Flowers” takes numerous elements from the earlier song aside from just its referential lyrics, including “melodic and harmonic” portions, “pitch ending pattern,” and “bass-line structure.” Therefore, they argue, “Flowers” simply “would not exist” without the earlier Mars track.
Cyrus’ attorneys refute that too, arguing the two songs have “striking differences” in melody and other musical elements. But those which they do share, they claim, are not protected by copyright.
Regardless, attorneys for Miley Cyrus assert that only a song’s “exclusive” copyright owners can file infringement lawsuits, a rule that exists precisely for situations like this. “A single co-author of a copyright interest, acting alone, cannot assign or license exclusive rights, because those rights also are owned by the assignor’s or licensor’s co-authors.”
Whether the court will agree with Cyrus and her attorneys remains to be seen.