May performs under the name Flourgon, and the lawsuit claims that “about 50 percent” of Cyrus’ “We Can’t Stop” is derived from his older song. The suit goes on to allege that the 2013 hit “owes the basis of its chart-topping popularity to and its highly-lucrative success to plaintiff May’s protected, unique, creative and original content.” Specifically, May cites his song’s line “We run things / Things no run we,” which he alleges Cyrus lifted and turned into “We run things / Things don’t run we” for the chorus to her song, as well as other “musical elements” that the suit claims as similar. Copyright law is tricky, and most people don’t know the nuances that go into it, but since we’re on the internet you might be interested in comparing the two songs for yourself, and see if they sound more than coincidentally similar to you: Here’s Cyrus’ song:
And here’s the Flourgon track:
May’s track may not be immediately recognizable in the United States, but it’s not exactly a buried obscurity either, having been the number one song in Jamaica for a time in 1988. In addition to the $300 million in damages being sought by May, the suit also seeks for subsequent sales and live performances of “We Can’t Stop” to be, well, stopped. Cyrus or her attorneys have not responded publicly to the lawsuit as yet.
