Check out what’s clicking on FoxBusiness.com.
Miley Cyrus may have to face the music as a federal judge appears “likely” to reject her bid to dismiss a copyright infringement suit filed over her Grammy-winning single “Flowers,” which accused the singer-songwriter of copying Bruno Mars’ hit song “When I Was Your Man.”
During a court hearing in Los Angeles on Monday, Judge Dean D. Pregerson “repeatedly indicated” he agreed that the plaintiff, Tempo Music Investments, had the legal standing to proceed with the case, according to Rolling Stone.
In September, Tempo Music Investments filed a lawsuit against Cyrus and several co-defendants, alleging that “Flowers” bore “striking similarities” to “When I Was Your Man,” including “numerous melodic, harmonic, and lyrical elements.”
MILEY CYRUS ACCUSED OF COPYING BRUNO MARS IN LAWSUIT OVER SONG ‘FLOWERS’
Lawyers for Cyrus denied the claims and filed a motion to dismiss the lawsuit, arguing that Tempo Music Investments, which only owns a fractional share of Mars’ song that the company purchased from one of its co-writers, Philip Lawrence, around 2020, did not have the standing to sue over “Flowers.”
A federal judge appears “likely” to reject Miley Cyrus’ motion for dismissal after she was sued for allegedly copying one of Bruno Mars’ hit songs. (Getty Images / Getty Images)
However, Rolling Stone reported that Pregerson seemed to concur several times with arguments made by Tempo Music Investments’ lawyer, Alex Weingarten.
“There’s a profound policy issue before the court. Adopting the rule urged by [Cyrus] would turn the entire music industry, indeed the tech industry as well, on its ear. The policy behind the Copyright Act allows people to freely [sell] their interests in copyright,” Weingarten said in court, per the outlet.
Pregerson appeared to indicate support for the reasoning, noting, “Or if someone dies and someone acquires an interest through an estate. All of a sudden they lose the right to enforce it.”
According to Rolling Stone, Pregerson had earlier questioned what would motivate anyone to purchase a fractional share in a song “knowing they could never enforce it” unless they obtained permission from all the co-authors.
“Precisely, your honor,” Weingarten responded. “It’s preposterous. If a right does not include the right to enforce that right, then the right is meaningless. You can’t have a rule where if a copyright owner dies, their estate is unable to be able to enforce that copyright.”
Pregerson did not immediately make a ruling regarding the motion to dismiss. However, he said that he would issue a written decision in the weeks and months to come.
A lawsuit alleged that Miley Cyrus’ Grammy-winning hit “Flowers” bore “striking similarities” to Bruno Mars’ song “When I Was Your Man.” (Getty Images / Getty Images)
According to the Reno, Nevada, radio station Ten Country@97.3, citing the court transcript, the judge reportedly stated he would “likely deny a motion to dismiss the case” on the basis that he believes the plaintiffs have “merit.”
Cyrus garnered her first set of Grammy wins for record of the year and best pop solo performance for “Flowers” at the 66th annual awards show in February 2024.
The “Wrecking Ball” hitmaker performed the song live during the ceremony, and “Flowers” also earned best international song honors at the 2024 Brit Awards.
ED SHEERAN’S ‘THINKING OUT LOUD’ FACES TRIAL OVER MARVIN GAYE COPYRIGHT CLAIM, JUDGE RULES
“Flowers” became an overnight sensation, debuting at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart and breaking the record to become the fastest song to reach one billion streams on Spotify.
“Adopting the rule urged by [Cyrus] would turn the entire music industry, indeed the tech industry as well, on its ear.”
Tempo Music Investments’ lawsuit stated, “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.”
“’Flowers’ duplicates numerous melodic, harmonic, and lyrical elements of ‘When I Was Your Man,’ including the melodic pitch design and sequence of the verse, the connecting bass-line, certain bars of the chorus, certain theatrical music elements, lyric elements, and specific chord progressions,” the suit asserts.
“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.’”
A side-by-side comparison of the two songs’ lyrics was included in court documents. (Temporal Music Instruments Lawsuit / FOXBusiness)
The lawsuit says “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.’”
The documents included a side-by-side display of lyrics from “When I Was Your Man” and “Flowers” to demonstrate the alleged similarities.
The lyrics featured in “When I Was Your Man” include “I should have brought you flowers,” “And held your hand,” “Should have gave you all my hours” and “Take you to every party cause all you wanted to do was dance.”
Meanwhile, the “Flowers” lyrics include “I can buy myself flowers,” “And I can hold my own hand,” “Talk to myself for hours” and “I can take myself dancing.”
Mars was not mentioned as a plaintiff in the lawsuit.
Along with Cyrus, “Flowers” co-writers Gregory Hein and Michael Pollack were listed in the lawsuit for the alleged unauthorized “exploitation” of the song. Multiple defendants, along with Sony Music Publishing and Apple, were additionally named in the court docs.
Mars’ hit “When I Was Your Man” was written by the singer, Philip Lawrence, Ari Levine and Andrew Wyatt.
Bruno Mars was not named as a plaintiff in the lawsuit. (Theo Wargo/Getty Images for The Recording Academy / Getty Images)
Following its release in December 2012, “When I Was Your Man” became a mega-hit. After more than 16 weeks on the Billboard Hot 100 charts, Mars’ song climbed to No. 1 in April 2013.
CLICK HERE TO READ MORE ON FOX BUSINESS
Mars also received a Grammy nomination for best pop solo performance for the tune in December 2013, and in 2014, the song won the award for “Most Performed Song” at the Pop Music Awards hosted by the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers (ASCAP).
In May 2021, “When I Was Your Man” was awarded its 11th platinum certification.
Miley Cyrus filed a motion for dismissal in November. (Vijat Mohindra/Peacock/NBCU Photo Bank via Getty Images / Getty Images)
Dan Stone, a Partner in Greenberg Glusker’s Litigation Group, told FOX Business that copyright lawsuits are “very common” but they rarely involve celebrities. He said that Cyrus was named as a defendant because she was one of “Flowers” co-writers.
Stone also weighed in on whether Cyrus will face difficulties in proving that she and her co-writers did not plagiarize “When I Was Your Man.”
“The plaintiff will have to prove that “Flowers” infringed the copyright for the musical composition ‘When I Was Your Man,’” he said. “If the parties don’t settle before trial, a trial would likely include testimony about how Miley and her co-writers wrote ‘Flowers.'”
“Both sides would typically offer expert testimony from trained musicologists about whether ‘Flowers’ and ‘When I Was Your Man’ are substantially similar songs, including a comparison of the sheet music and lyrics,” he explained.
GET FOX BUSINESS ON THE GO BY CLICKING HERE
FOX Business’ Stephanie Giang-Paunon and Tracy Wright contributed to this report.
