Avril Lavigne is being sued by a Seventies songwriting team who say her song 'Girlfriend' is just like one they wrote years ago.

Tommy Dunbar who founded the band The Rubinoos says that the Canadian songstress track 'Girlfriend' bears a striking resemblance to a 1978 Rubinoos song 'I Wanna Be Your Boyfriend'.


The co-writer of Lavigne's track, Dr. Luke, is also being sued, as is her company Avril Lavigne Publishing.

Dunbar founded the Rubinoos as a teen with his friend Jon Rubin in 1973.

Lavigne's manager Terry McBride is insisting that there is nothing similar between the songs and has apparently had a musicologist confirm it.

However, McBride is apparently prepared to settle out of court of the suit becomes too expensive to fight. Lavigne has insurance that covers such lawsuits.

This is the second incident of songwriting problems for the singer in recent weeks.

Last week Canadian songwriter Chantal Kreviazuk told 'Performing Songwriter' magazine that she will never again work withLavigne saying she will "cross the ethical line and no one says anything. That's why I'll never work with her again. I sent her a song two years ago called 'Contagious,' and I just saw the track listing to this album, and there's a song called 'Contagious' on it-and my name's not on it.'

http://www.ultimate-guitar.com/news/genera...aling_song.html

you can listen to the original song's chorus here:
http://blappers.blogspot.com/2007/07/i-wan...-boyfriend.html



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it sounds the same but i dont know if that's enough for a lawsuit.

I officially dislike her...

I read about this yesterday. in fact, it's quite coincidental she's suddenly being sued when Chantal accused her of "stealing" her song as well. this lawsuit just simply made Chantal's accusation a little credible.

I used to have respect for Avril, eventhough i'm not a fan of her music. but she's an epitome of hypocrisy. this is my opinion and though i dont intend to offend her fans, i really have a great dislike towards her... esp she once offended an artist i like

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EDIT:

bleh! Chantal is now apologizing to Lavigne. so I guess I have to eat my words as well for saying Chantal's claims are more credible! still doesnt change my negative-biased view on Lavigne though...

Aww thats too bad. but the two songs does sound alike.




Who did she offend?

Well, here another one...

please just credit when using someone else work... and life will be easier for everyone.

Glad I could finally hear the two songs.

I hope they sue her ass and win.

i still listen to avril's music for some reason, but i don't really respect her personality or her sense of ethics. she always boasts about how she writes her own music, yet she's always getting into these scenarios where people say she's just ripped off their work.

The hey hey you you part does sound similar. I never had a fondness for Avril Lavigne anyways

its not that similar except for hey hey you you i wanna be ur bf. part.
its not like she stole the song...

vanessa hudgens used a bit of avril's "complicated" in her song "come back to me" and i doubt theres any credit for that...

LOL.

Avril's hardcore originality and individualism: 0
World: 1

Hyori's "Get Ya" song isn't exactly alike Britney's "Do Something", but it's still considered stealing.
Avril Lavigne is no different.
Plagiarism is plagiarism, even if it's one line...

seriously though, i've seen a lot of singers in asia FULLY copy songs without permission, but nothing ever happen to them.
Which is why the more famous you are the less likely you will be able to get away with things.

I don't think this is a big deal, this kinda stuff happens more than you think it does.
Even if the song was "stolen" she still made it her own.

It's kinda coincidental?

I kinda don't care.

But it does sound a weeee bit similar.

After hearing both songs, I feel its stupid to be suing over that. The songs don't even have the same sound or beat. Its only the "hey hey you you i wanna be your ...". If every music artist/band was to sue over the similarity of "one line" of a song, everyone would be in court. Her song does sound very similar to the "hey mickey you're so fine, you're so fine you blow my mind ..." song.

Well u can't get away with stuff like that
you can't try to steal someone else's work
and call it your own.

It's just wrong

I don't get why people don't get permission for things

plagerism is bad
I never liked Avril Lavigne
I remember in her "Sk8ter Boi" days
she was saying how authentic she was

I hope she loses. Seriously.. this girl has got something up her arse.

o__O;; iono what to say..

Haha. Am I the only one who doesn't see (or hear) the similarity? I mean, this kind of "Hey, you" thingy is quite common, isn't it?

meh i think it sounds nothing alike
except for the hey hey you you part. thats it

it dont sound that similiar but the lyrics rings a bell.
well hey hey you you i don't like avril in the first place

LOL... that's sad.

Why steal the song?

I wonder how this is going to affect her career.

saaaaaaaaame here.
i really don't like avril.

really which part?

but like.. wouldn't it be her manager or something who found the song and copied it? not her?

I like the old version better

It's less annoying..

Eeesh that blows.................. >______<

Honestly though, what IS original about this girl?

Besides her tie? (If I'm not mistaken, she ripped that off too, didn't she?)

Lol.

Avril singing an unoriginal song? Big shock.

That also makes me think 30 Seconds to Mars should be sued for stealing Deftones' RX Queens drum beat. For real.

it is not alike!!! the song 'girlfriend' is thousand times better than "i wanna be ur boyfriend"

Aish....
I wonder how this will turn out.....................................

uhhhhhhhhhhh.............
iono wat 2 say also
i jsut found out 2day wen my sis told me bout it...
i was a fan of avril lavigne...
i still like her...
but not like a crazy ass fan or anythin but thenn...
well yeaa it is wrong 4 her if she rly did steal the song...
i would b mad also if sum1 took sumthinn that i worked on or whatsoever and credited themselves...
i would b pissed offf...
but iono this depends doesnt it?

OKIE...IT KINDA SOUND A LIKE...
I KINDA HOPE THAT SHE LOSES THIS CASE..BECAUSE IT DOES SOUND KINDA
ALIKE..
BUT HONESTLY I AM NOT SURE TOO..

... a lot of songs have similar lines and tunes -___- this is pathetic, they're making such a big deal out of it. I bet those ppl just want the money from the case

LOL. I'm not laughing about the situation, I'm just laughing at the song, it doesn't sound similar except the hey you part.

What can I say...I think my respect for Avril has gone a bit downhill after reading this =\ Stealing is never acceptable.

Hmm this is interesting. the chorus sounds similar because of the hey you part. perhaps if i listen to the whole thing, then it may not be that similar at all. i dont know..

Right on!

i kiiinda liked avril's songs....it's just some of them are catchy >< but i never liked her attitude or how she felt she had to prove herself to people(she might have done that whole punk-attitude, but i felt like she OVERdid it just to prove even more that she was 'punk' and 'original' =____= )

but i feel like if she's gonna flaunt things and insult people, then she better be ready for lawsuits

I never really liked 'Girlfriend' XD When I first heard the song I was like, Avril is singing THIS? o_O
Anywaysss...if Avril loses, oh well...I don't really care. If she wins, I don't care either

Yes I do too

WHOA! I'm speechless

But I still like "girlfriend"=]

i dont like her. again i hope she loses the court case.

on second thought, after hearing the "original" song... i wouldn't be surprised if avril actually never heard this song. the only thing similar are the lyrics, and the similarity is in like... one line...?

make sense, cuz if the "stealer" isnt popular, it's harder to know that she stole, n even if they did find out, who the heck care about some plain song..
and if you're popular, it mean more ppl spend their money on you and they dont intend to pay for something you just copy from others

Only the chorus sounds the same, but are they suing HER or the songwriters? I don't even know if Avril writes her own songs anymore, I used be such a big fan...

I'm not a fan of Avril but
I don't really see much similarity between the two

And I think in Hyori's case the similarity was a lot more evident

i really dont know about the other part of the news..
but this part is a bit more worthy of reading..
getting someone's song and not giving credentials to the songwriter is just wrong..

I like her music, but I don't know much about her, so I can't say anything.

i like her old music...... the original avril. where has she been?

i hope she wins because i freakin love this song HAHA
and that other song , OOH one freakin line, shes SOOO copying them wow

I just heard from E! News that her court date is August 28.
My birthday '_' haha
I actually like this song now. Catchy