Avril Lavigne Sued for Plagiarism
We reported yesterday that Avril Lavigne was accused of stealing a song, and now she is being sued for allegedly copying another hit song Girlfriend. Here’s more:
Canadian punk princess Avril Lavigne is being sued by U.S. songwriters who claim that her smash hit `Girlfriend’ sounds suspiciously like a track they took up the charts in the 1970s.
Lavigne’s manager, Terry McBride, says the pop starlet is one of several people named in a lawsuit filed July 2 that alleges striking similarities to the Rubinoos song `I Wanna Be Your Boyfriend.’
The group’s founder, Tommy Dunbar, filed the suit in California’s Northern Federal District Court and also names Lavigne’s publishing company Avril Lavigne Publishing and Lavigne’s songwriting partner Dr. Luke as defendants.
McBride says from Vancouver that the claim is baseless, noting that a musicologist he hired to study both tracks has deemed them completely different songs.
Still, McBride, also CEO of Nettwerk Music Group, admitted that he is considering settling the suit out of court if the costs of defending the case prove too high.
The suit comes on the heels of a jab at Lavigne by fellow Canuck songstress Chantal Kreviazuk, who recently suggested to Performing Songwriter magazine that Lavigne stole one of her songs for the disc `The Best Damn Thing.’
Related posts:
11 Responses to “Avril Lavigne Sued for Plagiarism”
Leave a Reply
Stay in Touch
- Subscribe to RSS Feed
- Follow HG on Facebook
- Follow HG on Twitter
- tips(at)hollywoodgrind.com
Disclaimer
Hollywood Grind is a celebrity gossip site which publishes rumors, opinions, third party source opinions and rumors, and conjecture, in addition to accurately reported facts. Information on this site may or may not be true and Hollywood Grind makes no warranty as to the validity of any claims.
Note
All images that appear on the site are copyright their respective owners and Hollywood Grind claims no credit for them unless otherwise noted. If you own the rights to any of the images and do not wish them to appear on the site please contact us at tips (at) hollywoodgrind.com, and they will be promptly removed.
© Copyright Hollywood Grind 2006 - 2009. All rights reserved.
i love avril and i know that she would never copy a song. she is so cool and i think and know that she is innocent!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! oh and james i have been a musician for a long time and i listened to both songs and they are very different. oh and you spelled the wrong.
I have done some more research, and have discovered that Avril does not do very much writing. According to one of her co-writers, the co-writer writes the song and Avril changes a word here and there. If this is the case, it is possible Avril hadn’t heard “I Wanna Be Your Boyfriend,” but that the co-writer, Dr. Luke, had and copied it. I still hold to my opinion that it was, indeed, lifted. In fact, after I had posted my original comment, I found a site that took “I Wanna…” and “Girlfriend” and superimposed the choruses. They were musically identical. The guitars were synched and were playing the same chords at the same time and the melody and meter were also synched. Coincidence is highly unlikely.
Having listened to both songs and having been a musician for 20 years, I can say without hesitation that the meter, rhythm, melody,and the refrain found in the first bar of both songs are almost identical. I have two theories: 1) Avril conjured up the song using a melody and phrase she had stored in her subconcious without realizing it came from a song she had heard before or 2) she deliberately took (or borrowed without permission)the melody and some of the phrasing, changed some words, changed the drum beat, chopped off the last line and refashioned it into her own song. I have to wonder, how much of the song was played to the musicologist? If it was the first run of the chorus featured at the beginning of the song (where the guitar is absent) and then the chorus of “I Wanna Be Your Boyfriend” was played, it would be easy to assume that they were different songs with passing similarity. However, if you listen to the second run of the chorus (with guitar) and the chorus of “I Wanna Be Your Boyfriend,” you would have to conclude that they are almost identical with the exception that the words are changed, the first refrain is semi-repeated in teh second line with the last half of the second line mimicking the rhyme and melody of the second line of “I Wanna…” and the last line removed entirely, replaced only with a guitar chord. there is no question she took the song in my opinion, and I am a teacher with a M.Ed. who was trained in teaching music. Of course, if you have no background in music, it would be easy to defend Avril.
Avril is totaly INNOCENT no pun intended. She would never steal a song from anyone at all!!1
Avril Lavigne most likely took it because she cant think of anymore songs…okay i lied, her songwriters cant think of anymore songs. But i agree, the song “Girlfriend” was so much better than the other version that SUCKED. Plus it didnt sound the same except for the “Hey Hey You You” But my god the band that wrote the song first is dead, they should be happy avril took it.
Was that the same two Lisas?
One sounds smart and the other sounds like a fool.
Sorry I think that She is Nasty.
And The fact they call her a punk Princess is Disgusting–
and another sign that real punk and Rock is Dead.
Especially when they are associating it with Her.
Ew.
Jessica, you’re an idiot. Just because you love the song doesn’t mean she couldn’t have ripped it off.
i think that she is innocent!! sorry but i love the song girlfriend!!!
I do not think avril would do that….the only hing that sounds the same in both songs is hey hey you you..wdf are they gonna sue her for 4 freaking words..how dumb is that..AVRIL ROX..AND THIS IS STUPID
HAHAHAHAHAHA.
HAHAHAHAHAHA.
Thak you God.