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Avril Lavigne faces U.S. lawsuit
| 10-08-2007 11:43 | 0 reaction(s) | add reaction | add news |
 Canadian pop sensation Avril Lavigne is being sued by U.S. songwriters for an alleged copycat version of an original song.
The 1970s band, the Rubinoos, have claimed Avril Lavigne’s hit single "Girlfriend" is a ripoff of their 1979 song "I Wanna Be Your Boyfriend."
Lavigne’s manager Terry McBride denied any credibility to the Rubinoos claim: “This is a song she’d never heard of that was a minor hit before she was born,” he said in an interview with CanWest News Service. “This is a stretch and there is no basis for it.”
As soon as he received the allegations six weeks ago, McBride said he hired a musicologist to compare the two songs. The music expert reported the songs are completely different and not even in the same metre, McBride said, dismissing the allegations as a form of “legal blackmail”.
Songwriters Tommy Dunbar and James Gangwer filed the suit at California’s Northern Federal District Court, also naming Lavigne’s publishing company Avril Lavigne Publishing and her co-songwriter Dr. Luke as defendants.
The Rubinoos' "I Wanna Be Your Boyfriend" has an upbeat chorus that sings “Hey hey you you, I wanna be your boyfriend’ while Lavigne’s lyrics — sung in an edgier tone — are “Hey hey, you, you I want to be your girlfriend”.
Although four words are similar, McBride pointed out “‘hey you’ has been used in so many other songs, you could say they (the Rubinoos) ripped off the Rolling Stones lyrics ‘Hey! You! Get off of my cloud.’”
McBride, CEO of Nettwerk Music Group, said he has no plans to settle because he believes the claim has no basis in reality. “The bottom line is we believe our case is strong. We’ll look at the cost to defend versus the cost to settle, and we’ll make a decision at that time.”
Although the cost of the legal fees versus the settlement may determine what they decide to do, “At a certain point you have to delete the emotion and deal with the business,” McBride said.
The Rubinoos could not be reached for comment.
Lavigne has had a double dose of songwriting slams this week.
In an interview with Performing Songwriter magazine, Canadian singer Chantal Kreviazuk accused Lavigne of using one of her songs. "I sent her a song two years ago called 'Contagious,' and I just saw the track listing to (The Best Damn Thing) and there's a song called 'Contagious' on it and my name's not on it," said Kreviazuk. "What do you do with that?"
Kreviazuk said she won’t take her troubles with Lavigne to court. But she had no qualms about attacking her integrity as an artist. “I mean, Avril, songwriter? Avril doesn’t really sit and write songs by herself or anything,” Kreviazuk said in the interview.
Lavigne’s former lead guitarist Evan Taubenfeld responded to Kreviazuk’s remarks in a statement on his website. "We originally wrote it for me, so there's no way Chantal was involved. I can't speak on her song or any claims she's making about our song because I've never heard hers."
McBride said Lavigne’s songwriting style is collaborative, which isn’t unusual in the music business. “She likes to get into a room with (another songwriter) and start writing. That’s how the majority of artists do it. That’s what Sarah (McLachlan) does. It’s rare to have a solo artist.”
© CanWest News Service 2007 |
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