Miley Cyrus settles lawsuit claiming she plagiarised reggae song for ‘We Can’t Stop’

The settlement amount has not been specified

A lawsuit claiming that Miley Cyrus plagiarised a line from a reggae song on her 2013 song ‘We Can’t Stop’ has now been settled.

Originally suing Cyrus for $300 million (£215m) in 2018, Jamaican songwriter Michael May, who performs under the name Flourgon, claimed that the ‘We Can’t Stop’ infringed upon his 1988 single ‘We Run Things’.

May filed the complaint on March 13, 2018, Reuters reported, with producers Mike WiLL Made-It and Rock City (Timothy and Theron Thomas), Cyrus’ manager Larry Rudolph, plus the labels RCA Records and Sony Music also named in the suit.

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May’s lawyers argued that Cyrus’ song “substantially incorporated” his “vocal melody/rhythm/cadence/inflection”, pointing to a “substantially similar hook” and alleged similarities between Cyrus’ refrain, “We run things. Things don’t run we” and his lyrics, “We run things. Things no run we.”

Now, Reuters reports, that the lawsuit has been settled. May and Cyrus reportedly filed a joint stipulation in Manhattan federal court on Friday (January 3) ending the suit with prejudice, which means it can’t be filed again.

Cyrus’ lawyers wrote in a letter last month that a settlement agreement had been signed and that the stipulation would be filed “pending payment of the settlement proceeds.” The amount was not specified.

Back in November, Miley Cyrus postponed all recording and performances while she recovered from vocal surgery.

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While receiving treatment for tonsillitis, Cyrus was diagnosed with a separate issue with her vocal cords. The ‘Don’t Call Me Angel’ singer underwent surgery, and was advised by her doctor to rest her voice for several weeks.

Meanwhile, Miley Cyrus has put in an application to trademark the phrase ‘Bandit and Bardot.’

Though largely unconfirmed up until this point, it seems that the phrase relates to a potential new musical project between Cyrus and her Australian singer-songwriter boyfriend Cody Simpson.

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