Miley Cyrus’ legal battle over ‘Flowers’ lawsuit takes drastic turn

Miley Cyrus’ legal action for Flowers lawsuit fell short, as her dismissal motion was denied.

Her legal team tried to get the case thrown out of court, but the judge ruled against her request.

As a result, the lawsuit alleging copyright infringement between Flowers and Bruno Mars’ song When I Was Your Man will continue to move forward and be resolved in court.

People reported that on Tuesday, March 18, a judge denied Cyrus’ request to dismiss a lawsuit from Tempo Music Investments because of a misconception from Cyrus and her legal team.

“Ownership of ‘exclusive rights’ is not to be conflated with ‘exclusive ownership’ of rights. The ‘exclusive rights’ are what is owned collectively by the co‐owners,” the order states.

“Lawrence’s interest was a co‐ownership interest in the exclusive rights of the copyright,” the filing explained. “By transferring all of that interest, Tempo now steps into Lawrence’s shoes and is a co‐owner of the exclusive rights of the copyright.”

For the unversed, Tempo Music Investments sued Flowers hitmaker in September 2024 because they owned a share of the copyright for Mars’ song after purchasing the catalogue rights from Philip Lawrence, the song’s co-writer.

The company alleged that Cyrus’ Grammy-winning song “duplicates numerous melodic, harmonic, and lyrical elements” from Mars’ 2012 ballad and that there was “unauthorised reproduction, distribution and exploitation.”

Notably, Mars, 38, was not named in the lawsuit, which included Flowers‘ songwriters Michael Pollack, Gregory Hein, Apple, and Sony Music Publishing among the multiple defendants.

In addition to seeking unspecified damages, Tempo Music Investments requested that the defendants cease distributing, reproducing, and publicly performing the 2023 hit song.

Cyrus denied the allegations in November 2024 and requested for lawsuit dismissal, saying only owners of the exclusive rights can take legal action over it.

In the latest ruling, the court clarified that Cyrus and her legal team misunderstood how prior rulings on the term “exclusive” should apply to their case.