The lawsuit claims that “Flowers” includes unauthorized “exploitation” of several elements from Mars’ 2013 piano ballad “When I Was Your Man.”
Miley Cyrus has been the subject of a lawsuit alleging that she and co-authors Gregory Hein and Michael Pollack They copied parts of a single from Bruno Mars when they wrote their Grammy-winning worldwide hit “Flowers”.
According to the lawsuit filed Monday in Los Angeles, Tempo Music Investments claims that “Flowers” includes unauthorized “exploitation” from various elements of Mars’ 2013 piano ballad “When I was your man”The lawsuit also names Sony Music Publishing, Apple, Target, Walmart and several other companies as defendants accused of distributing “Flowers.”
Tempo owns a percentage of the US copyright to Mars’ song which it acquired from co-writer Philip Lawrence. Mars, along with co-authors Ari Levine and Andrew Wyattare not named as plaintiffs in the lawsuit.
The lawsuit against Miley Cyrus
Although the lyrics to Mars’ song mention flowers, the similarities between the two are not readily apparent upon casual listening. However, the lawsuit states, “Any fan of Bruno Mars’ ‘When I Was Your Man’ knows that Miley Cyrus’ ‘Flowers’ did not achieve all of its success on its own. ‘Flowers’ duplicates numerous melodic, harmonic and lyrical elements from ‘When I was your man’including the melodic tone design and sequence of the verse, the bass line that connects them, certain bars of the chorus, certain theatrical musical elements, lyrical elements, and specific chord progressions.
“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 complaint continues.“With ‘Flowers,’ Cyrus, Hein and Pollack have created a derivative work of ‘When I Was Your Man’ without authorization.”
Source: Ambito
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