Miley Cyrus is facing a lawsuit alleging that her 2023 hit song “Flowers” unlawfully copies elements from Bruno Mars’ 2013 track “When I Was Your Man.” The lawsuit, filed by Tempo Music Investments in September 2024, claims that “Flowers” duplicates numerous melodic, harmonic, and lyrical components of Mars’ song. Tempo acquired a portion of the copyright for “When I Was Your Man” from co-writer Philip Lawrence in 2020.
Cyrus sought to dismiss the lawsuit, arguing that Tempo lacked the standing to sue since it holds only a partial copyright. However, on March 18, 2025, U.S. District Judge Dean Pregerson rejected this bid, stating that as a co-owner, Tempo has the right to pursue the infringement case without joining the other co-owners.
“Flowers,” featured on Cyrus’ 2023 album “Endless Summer Vacation,” has achieved significant success, amassing over 1 billion streams on Spotify and winning the Song of the Year Grammy in 2024.
The case is currently pending in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California.
