Posted July 6, 200718 yr Seventies Band Sues Lavigne Over 'Girlfriend' July 05, 2007, 10:40 AM ET Billboard.com Larry LeBlanc, Toronto Avril Lavigne is being sued by two songwriters who claim that her hit "Girlfriend" sounds like a track their American power pop band recorded in the '70s. Tommy Dunbar, the founder of the Rubinoos, filed the suit in California's Northern Federal District Court in San Francisco on July 2. The suit alleges that "Girlfriend" bears striking similarities to the Rubinoos' song "I Wanna Be Your Boyfriend," co-written by Dunbar and former Rubinoos' road manager James Gangwer, and released by Beserkley Records in 1978. The lawsuit also names as defendants Lavigne's publishing company Avril Lavigne Publishing and the co-writer of "Girlfriend," producer/remixer Dr. Luke. Dunbar and Jon Rubin formed the Rubinoos as middle school students in Berkeley, Calif., in 1973. The band is best known for its 1977 remake of the Tommy James and the Shondells' hit, "I Think We're Alone Now" which reached No. 45 on the Billboard Hot 100. Lavigne's Vancouver-based manager, Terry McBride, CEO of Nettwerk Music Group, claims the suit "has no basis. There's nothing similar (between the two songs)," he says. "Our musicologist says there is no similarities of melody, choral progression or meter." McBride, however, may settle the suit out of court if the costs of defending the case start to prove too high. He says, "You are forced to consider doing this because American lawyers can do these cases on contingency. If I defend and win, it costs me $300,000 U.S. If I go to get my costs back, the other party declares bankruptcy. You end up footing the bill." McBride adds, "Avril has insurance that covers off these sort of suits that are so prevalent in this business." Do you think Avril is guilty or not guilty of plagiarism? ibXj4xuOugA Rubinoos - I Wanna Be Your Boyfriend (1978) vs wN1knh-BsjM Avril Lavigne - Girlfriend (2007)
July 6, 200718 yr well the verses and stuff is completely different but considering they both have the "hey hey you you i wanna be your boyfriend/girlfriend" i can see where they are soming from
July 6, 200718 yr Hmmm I agree ^^^. You never know though - Avril CLAIMS to have came up with the lyrics randomly when drunk... We shall see. :o
July 6, 200718 yr Yeah, it's just the chorus which is slightly similar, so they have a point. The rest of the song is completely different though.
July 6, 200718 yr i think it highlights just how much todays music is soooo generic and has nothing much original to say... i think its highly plausable that avril pinched a decent hook off the rubinoos track, but proving it is something else.
July 7, 200718 yr I think Toni Basil has more reason to sue because 'Girlfriend' sound almost exactly the same as Hey Mickey
July 7, 200718 yr She's a fukkin lousy plagiarist and this proves it. Not only shamelessly ripping off Toni Basil's "Hey Mickey", but now this track as well, the guitar riffs in both songs are barely distinguishable from each other... She has NOTHING to say whatsoever, she just glued this track and "Hey Mickey" together to come up with her piece of c**p "song". Nothing "random" about it whatsoever, it's plagiarism, pure and simple...
July 7, 200718 yr Author Lavigne responds to plagiarism claim Saturday, July 7 2007, 15:54 BST Digitalspy.com By Daniel Kilkelly Avril Lavigne has denied claims that she stole lyrics when writing her Girlfriend single. The Canadian singer was baffled when she heard that songwriters James Gangwer and Tommy Dunbar were suing her over the song, which they claim infringes upon their 1979 track I Wanna Be Your Boyfriend, performed by pop band The Rubinoos. The lawsuit is based on the fact that the Rubinoos' track contains the lyric, "Hey, hey, you, you, I wanna be your boyfriend," and Lavigne sings, "Hey, hey, you, you, I want to be your girlfriend" in her single. "You may have heard some news that two guys who wrote for some band from the 1970s I have never in my life heard of called the "Rubinoos" are trying to sue me. They have a song called I Want To Be Your Boyfriend that has no musical similarities to the song Girlfriend that Luke Gottwald and I wrote together," Lavigne explained on her Myspace page. "They claim that a small part of the lyrics are the same and are saying that I took these from them. I had never heard this song in my life and their claim is based on 5 words! All songs share similar lyrics and emotions. As humans we speak one language. "Off the top of my head, two other songs that I can immediately think of with this type of lyric are "Hey, hey, you, you get off of my cloud" by the Rolling Stones and "Hey little girl I want to be your boyfriend" by the Ramones. Simply put, I have been falsely accused of ripping their song off. Luke and I have done nothing wrong and there is no merit to their claim."
July 7, 200718 yr My dad and I were talking about this earlier today since he likes the Rubinoos..he compared the two and he was saying that he doesn't think anything will come of the lawsuit..I think he may be right.
July 8, 200718 yr Lavigne responds to plagiarism claim Saturday, July 7 2007, 15:54 BST Digitalspy.com By Daniel Kilkelly Avril Lavigne has denied claims that she stole lyrics when writing her Girlfriend single. The Canadian singer was baffled when she heard that songwriters James Gangwer and Tommy Dunbar were suing her over the song, which they claim infringes upon their 1979 track I Wanna Be Your Boyfriend, performed by pop band The Rubinoos. The lawsuit is based on the fact that the Rubinoos' track contains the lyric, "Hey, hey, you, you, I wanna be your boyfriend," and Lavigne sings, "Hey, hey, you, you, I want to be your girlfriend" in her single. "You may have heard some news that two guys who wrote for some band from the 1970s I have never in my life heard of called the "Rubinoos" are trying to sue me. They have a song called I Want To Be Your Boyfriend that has no musical similarities to the song Girlfriend that Luke Gottwald and I wrote together," Lavigne explained on her Myspace page. "They claim that a small part of the lyrics are the same and are saying that I took these from them. I had never heard this song in my life and their claim is based on 5 words! All songs share similar lyrics and emotions. As humans we speak one language. "Off the top of my head, two other songs that I can immediately think of with this type of lyric are "Hey, hey, you, you get off of my cloud" by the Rolling Stones and "Hey little girl I want to be your boyfriend" by the Ramones. Simply put, I have been falsely accused of ripping their song off. Luke and I have done nothing wrong and there is no merit to their claim." I wonder what her reply will be when Toni Basil sues her ass..... :lol: :lol: "As humans we speak one language"???? Erm, I think she'll find that not even her fellow CANADIANS speak only the "one language"...... :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: Stupid bint....
July 8, 200718 yr oh well people who are suing her obvisly need the money because their career is long over and nobody cares about them anymore their washed up has beens
July 8, 200718 yr Author oh well people who are suing her obvisly need the money because their career is long over and nobody cares about them anymore their washed up has beens But seeing as Avril has ripped the hook of the chorus off, then they are entitled to royalties. Or do you approve of theft & robbery?
July 8, 200718 yr But seeing as Avril has ripped the hook of the chorus off, then they are entitled to royalties. Or do you approve of theft & robbery? I've just listened to the song in question and yes the - 'hey, you, etc, etc' from Avril's does sound exactly the same. Having said that - I think both songs are sh*te! And if I was the Rubioos? I really wouldn't want to own up to something that was just as awful as Avril's song.. That is just my opinion though! I love it when artists have "insurances to cover this sort of thing" it seems to give them carte blanche to pinch a bit of this, a bit of that, something here and there and think - oh well if I get sued ... whatever ... I'm covered. Where have all the decent song-writers gone? Oh yeah! They're all dead! John Lennon would turn in his bloody grave! Edited July 8, 200718 yr by kathyp
July 8, 200718 yr But seeing as Avril has ripped the hook of the chorus off, then they are entitled to royalties. Or do you approve of theft & robbery? well no i dont approver of it but i think just like on your shore said nothing will come out of this this lawsuit.they'll probably lose after getting their 15 minutes of fame back and then dissaper into oblivion again(spell??)
July 8, 200718 yr Was this song popular back in the 70's as it could just be a coincidence, Avril probably wasn't even born til the late 80's so may have never even heard the song.
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