Miley Cyrus must face ‘Flowers’ lawsuit after judge denies motion to dismiss

Miley Cyrus‘ attempt to have a copyright lawsuit filed against her for her song “Flowers” has wilted in court.

A judge rejected Miley and her co-defendants’ motion to dismiss the lawsuit Tuesday. That means the copyright infringement lawsuit, filed by Tempo Music Investments, can proceed. Tempo is a part owner of the copyright of the Bruno Mars song “When I Was Your Man” and argues that “Flowers” is “substantially similar to” Bruno’s hit.

Many fans and music professionals have noticed the similarity in the lyrics of the two songs; some fans feel that Miley’s song was specifically written as an “answer” to Bruno’s original.

In their request for dismissal, Miley and her co-defendants argued that Tempo doesn’t have legal standing to sue because it purchased its part of the copyright from Phillip Lawrence, one of the composers of “When I Was Your Man.” But in his decision, the judge rejected that argument because Lawrence fully sold his ownership of the song to Tempo.

The law allows a co-owner — in this case, Lawrence — to transfer their ownership share to a new co-owner. The new owner then gains the right to sue for copyright infringement, just like the original co-owner would have. Therefore, the case can move forward.