Pop sensation Miley Cyrus faced an early setback in her bid to dismiss a lawsuit filed in a California federal court, which alleges that she unlawfully borrowed elements from Bruno Mars' hit "When I Was Your Man" for her chart-topping single "Flowers." On Tuesday, U.S. District Judge Dean Pregerson dismissed Cyrus' contention that Tempo Music Investments, a non-affiliated entity claiming partial copyright ownership in Mars' tune, lacked the standing to initiate legal proceedings against her.
Tempo, which is not associated with Mars and hence uninvolved in the lawsuit directly, welcomed Pregerson's ruling. Representatives and legal counsel for Cyrus' label, Sony Music, remained silent on the decision when sought for comment on Wednesday.
Alex Weingarten, Tempo's attorney from Willkie Farr & Gallagher, expressed his client's delight and confidence in the judicial outcome on Wednesday. He stated that Tempo was "thrilled but hardly surprised" by the decision and "utterly confident in securing victory" in the case.
Cyrus unveiled "Flowers" as part of her 2023 album titled "Endless Summer Vacation." The song has amassed over a billion streams on Spotify and garnered the prestigious Song of the Year Grammy award in 2024.
In September, Tempo filed a lawsuit against Cyrus and Sony Music, asserting that "Flowers" bore striking similarities to "numerous melodic, harmonic, and lyrical elements" found in Mars' 2013 Billboard Hot 100 number-one hit, "When I Was Your Man." Tempo acquired its stake in "When I Was Your Man" from co-writer Philip Lawrence in 2020, according to the complaint.
Cyrus and her co-writers petitioned the court in November to dismiss the allegations, contending that Tempo lacked the legal authority to sue under U.S. copyright law since it did not hold "exclusive rights" to the song. However, Pregerson sided against Cyrus on Tuesday.
"Since Lawrence, as a co-owner, had the right to sue for infringement, Tempo, as another co-owner, can initiate a lawsuit for infringement without the necessity of joining the other co-owners," Pregerson ruled.
