I have done some more research, and have …

Comment posted Avril Lavigne Sued for Plagiarism by James Fiddler.

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.

James Fiddler also commented

• 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.

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