The music industry’s demand for ingenuity has pushed artists to try their hand at reinventing the lyrics of older songs. These interpolations have formed a gray area between nostalgic triumphs and pending lawsuits.
Borrowed lyrics used in songs like Miley Cyrus’s “Flowers” and “Lonely Road” by mgk, formerly known as Machine Gun Kelly, and Jelly Roll have diverged to opposite ends of this spectrum. Teetering on the line between creativity and copyright infringement, artists find difficulty in the legality of this practice.
Cyrus released “Flowers” on Jan. 13, 2023. Since its release, the song has amassed a series of accolades, including Grammy awards for Record of the Year and Best Pop Solo Performance. Concurrent with the song’s success, it has caused controversy for its similarity to Bruno Mars’s “When I Was Your Man.”
On Sept. 16, 2024, Tempo Music Investments sued Cyrus, claiming in the lawsuit, “It is undeniable, based on the combination and number of similarities between the two recordings, that ‘Flowers’ would not exist without ‘When I Was Your Man.’” Tempo Music Investments holds partial copyrights to Mars’s song and argues that derivative lyrical elements of the chorus violate the song’s copyrights.
Junior Amelia DeGutis of Wall Township shares her opinions on the infringement situation, expanding on the idea that Cyrus allegedly basing her chorus off of “When I Was Your Man.”
“Using someone else’s song to create your own idea is just mimicking them and unoriginal,” DeGutis said.
Lyrical interpolation does not always have to end in a copyright violation. It can be properly executed when abiding by specific terms, using a mechanical license, receiving permission from the artist or taking lyrics from the public domain. Mgk and Jelly Roll’s recent collaboration “Lonely Road” exemplifies this.
The song draws inspiration from John Denver’s 1971 release of “Take Me Home, Country Roads.” Taking the melody and general lyrical arrangement of Denver’s chorus line, “Lonely Road” is structured by the familiar tune, but maintains an original message.
Freshman Olivia McDevitt of Middletown describes the distinction between the proper and improper use of older lyrics in new songs.
“It’s only creative if you take it and twist it in a way that creates something new,” McDevitt said.
Mgk and Jelly Roll’s song is legally protected through the use of a mechanical license, which allows users to reproduce and distribute a song under copyright protection. Despite the controversy surrounding many copyright ordeals, restrictions on music ownership are put in place with the intention to protect artists’ original work.
Sophomore Shea Burkhardt of West Long Branch recognizes the importance of copyright restrictions, regardless of artists’ difficulties navigating them.
“That’s their song, they put their creativity into it, they deserve the rights [to their lyrics],” Burkhardt said.
