Miley Cyrus and her lawyers contend that an investment business, not Bruno Mars or the song’s co-writers, brought the lawsuit.
The first answer from Miley Cyrus and her legal team to a lawsuit filed back in September alleging that her hit song “Flowers” violates the copyright to Bruno Mars’ “When I Was Your Man” has been received. They also draw attention to a fairly important “fatal” flaw: the lawsuit isn’t being filed by Bruno Mars and his other co-writers.
An organization named Tempo Music Investments actually brought the lawsuit after purchasing one of the co-writers of “When I Was Your Man.” In response, Miley and her team claim that the lawsuit should be dismissed because Mars and none of the song’s producers were involved at all.
According to Cyrus’ lawyers, “the plaintiff clearly [states] that it only acquired its claimed rights in the ‘When I Was Your Man’ copyright from one of the musical composition’s four co-authors.” “That flaw in the plaintiff’s claim is fatal and incurable.”
Peter Anderson of Davis Wright Tremaine, who leads Cyrus’ team, contends that Tempo’s purchase of a “partial interest” in the song from author Philip Lawrence only gives the firm “non-exclusive rights” to it. Furthermore, according to her attorneys, that does not grant them the authority to file a lawsuit under federal copyright law.
Anderson states, “The plaintiff is the only party bringing this copyright infringement action — none of the co-authors or other owners of that musical composition are involved.” “A right granted by one co-owner does not confer standing without the other owners’ consent.”
READ MORE: Miley Cyrus Sued For Copyright Infringement Due To Similarities With Bruno Mars’ When I Was Your Man
However, Tempo’s principal attorney, Alex Weingarten of Willkie Farr, told Billboard that his clients lacked legal standing and that Cyrus’ team’s request was “intellectually dishonest.” “They don’t have a real substantive defense to the case, so they’re trying to make bogus technical arguments,” he stated.
Fans first noticed the similarities between the two songs when Cyrus released “Flowers” in January 2023, so the similarity is not new. Because of its blatantly referenced lyrics, many people think Cyrus’ song is meant to be a “answer song” to Mars’ “When I Was Your Man.”
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However, Tempo’s complaint contends that “Flowers” borrows a number of aspects from the previous song, such as “melodic and harmonic” passages, “pitch ending pattern,” and “bass-line structure,” in addition to its referential lyrics. They contend that without the earlier Mars track, “Flowers” just “would not exist.”
The two songs contain “striking differences” in melody and other musical aspects, according to Cyrus’ lawyers, who also dispute that. However, they assert that copyright does not protect those that they do share.
In any case, Miley Cyrus’s lawyers claim that only the “exclusive” copyright holders of a song are able to bring infringement claims—a regulation that is in place specifically for circumstances such as these. Because exclusive rights are also owned by the co-authors of the assignor or licensor, a single co-author of a copyright interest acting alone is unable to assign or license those rights.
It is unclear if the judge will concur with Cyrus and her lawyers.
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