Miley Cyrus was served a $300 million copyright infringement lawsuit by a Jamaican songwriter over her 2013 his single, “We Can’t Stop”. The plaintiff, Michael May, better known by his stage name Flourgon, claims in the suit that “We Can’t Stop” closely resembles his 1988 reggae track, “We Run Things”.

According to a report from Reuters, May alleges:

“We Run Things” has been “‘a favorite for lovers of reggae music worldwide’ since reaching No. 1 in his home country, and that about 50 percent of [Miley’s] ‘We Can’t Stop’ comes from him. … He accused Cyrus and her label, RCA Records, owned by Sony Corp, of misappropriating his material, including the phrase “We run things. Things no run we,” which she sings as “We run things. Things don’t run we.”

While the two songs may not sound alike, May’s case surrounds the lyrics and the general musical aesthetic. The suit claims that Cyrus’ song “owes the basis of its chart-topping popularity and its highly-lucrative success to plaintiff May’s protected, unique, creative and original content.” Flougron may have a case after he won “formal copyright protection” from the U.S. copyright office for all musical arrangements in “We Run Things” last November.

“We Can’t Stop” was written and produced by Mike Will Made It, P-Nasty, and Rock City, with additional writing from Cyrus as well as Doug E. Fresh and Slick Rick (presumably because the song’s chorus borrows a line from their 1985 track, “La Di Do Di”). If the plaintiff wins the case, or Cyrus’ camp settles, it is likely that he will be added to the list of songwriters for “We Can’t Stop” in addition to some sort of financial reparation. Such a settlement was reached when Sam Smith settled a copyright infringement case with the late Tom Petty over the melodic similarities between his hit “Stay With Me” and Petty’s classic “Won’t Back Down”

However, in a recent case against Taylor Swift (that’s eerily similar to this one) regarding the similarity of her hit track “Shake It Off” to 3LW‘s 2001 song “Playas Gon’ Play”, the suit was dismissed by the presiding judge. As he explained, the lyrics in question were, in fact, too “banal” to copyright. While the lyrical similarities are apparent if you know what you’re looking for, it is uncertain how this may all play out in the legal arena.

“We Can’t Stop”, from Miley Cyrus’ Bangerz, was met with initial public backlash for a variety of reasons including its sexualized portrayal of Cyrus, a former child star, its drug-referencing lyrics, and its alleged reappropriation of African American culture. As Reuters notes, “We Can’t Stop was kept from the top spot by Robin Thicke’s “Blurred Lines,” itself the subject of a high-profile copyright case over its resemblance to a 1977 Marvin Gaye song.

You can listen to both songs below:

Flougron – “We Run Things”

[Video: ZionTopSound]

Miley Cyrus – “We Can’t Stop”

[Video: MileyCyrusVEVO]

[H/T – Reuters]