Tempo Music sues Miley Cyrus (and half the music industry)

Tempo Music Sues Miley Cyrus Over Alleged Copying of Bruno Mars' "When I Was Your Man" in "Flowers"

Tempo Music has filed a lawsuit against Miley Cyrus, claiming she copied Bruno Mars' hit "When I Was Your Man" to create her 2023 single "Flowers." The lawsuit was submitted to the US District Court for the Central District of California on September 16.

Tempo Music, a music rights fund launched by Providence in 2019, asserts that it acquired a portion of the copyright for "When I Was Your Man" from co-writer Philip Lawrence in 2020. The lawsuit names not only Cyrus and Sony Music Entertainment, which released "Flowers," but also various music publishers, retailers, and streaming services associated with the song.

"Flowers" achieved significant commercial success, becoming the biggest-selling single globally in 2023, with eight weeks at number one on the Billboard Hot 100 and 57 weeks leading the Billboard Adult Contemporary chart.

Tempo's legal complaint states, "Any fan of Bruno Mars’ When I Was Your Man knows that Miley Cyrus’ Flowers did not achieve all of that success on its own." The lawsuit claims that "Flowers" replicates numerous melodic, harmonic, and lyrical elements from "When I Was Your Man," including specific melodic sequences, bass lines, certain bars of the chorus, and chord progressions.

Co-writers Gregory “Aldae” Hein and Michael Pollack are also named in the lawsuit. Additionally, music publishers Concord Music Publishing, Warner-Tamerlane Publishing Corp., and MCEO Inc. are included as defendants.

In a unique twist, the lawsuit extends its reach to music streaming platforms and retailers that distributed "Flowers." These include Amazon Music, Apple Music, Deezer, iHeartRadio, Pandora, SoundCloud, TIDAL, and Qobuz, along with retailers like Barnes & Noble, Target, and Walmart. Notably, Spotify is not mentioned, despite "Flowers" being available on the platform, where it has amassed nearly 2.2 billion streams.

The lawsuit even names concert promoter Live Nation for selling "Flowers" through Cyrus's official online store and Disney for airing a concert documentary featuring Cyrus performing the song.

Listeners have noted the lyrical parallels between "Flowers" and "When I Was Your Man." The latter's line, “I should have bought your flowers and held your hand,” is echoed in Cyrus’s “I can buy myself flowers, write my name in the sand.” Some fans have speculated that the similarities were intentional, given that Cyrus's ex, Liam Hemsworth, is reportedly a Bruno Mars fan.

Tempo's complaint emphasizes the lyrical similarities, asserting, "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 lawsuit claims that the defendants were aware or should have been aware that "Flowers" is an unauthorized derivative work of Mars' song.

Tempo Music is seeking damages that could amount to $150,000 per infringement, depending on the outcome of the trial, which could lead to a substantial sum given "Flowers'" extensive sales and streaming success.