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Celebrity Justice7/7/2007 1:22 PM PDT BY TMZ STAFF
Angry Avril Responds to Rip-Off Claims

Earlier this week, TMZ reported that attitudinal Avril Lavigne's song "Girlfriend" was a rip off of a 1979 song by the Rubinoos called "I Wanna Be Your Boyfriend." Avril's management flatly denied the band's claims, and now Avril's called BS too.


Writes Avril:

"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. 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."

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Reader Comments

(Page 5 of 10) Previous 15 Comments | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | Most Recent | Next 15 Comments
61.

shocked:  1682 days ago

A) the girl has no talent. and I think she is in her 20s and her song makes her sound like she is still a 15 year old teenybopper.

B) that rubinoos song chorus is EXACTLY like her song. Is she on crack for being in such denial?

C) dude, what is wrong with Canadians? If they are not clubbing baby seals or wearing socks with sandals, they are importing garbage music to the US.

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62.

Shaun:  1682 days ago

Avril, why r u being such a bitch about this! The proof is in the pudding. Your song SAMPLES the oldies song PERIOD. Sure the songs are different in their entirety but the catch chorus is the same. Sorta like Puff Daddy's "Cant nobody hold me down" or "Been around the World"- they are different than the originals but they SAMPLE the choruses and thus permission is needed and royalties must be paid! Avril is guilty as charged!

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63.

shocked:  1682 days ago

i have come to the conclusion that Sk8trBoi (or however you spell that piece of crap music) sounds exactly like a fart i had the other day. I am suing her. No one copies the sound of my flatulance and gets away with it!!

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64.

Yeah is afraid of Ladies:  1682 days ago

I believe her when she says she didn't rip off the Rubinoos.

Why?

Because that bitch does not write her own songs, PERIOD!

Why else is her label prepared to settle so quickly?

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65.

Yeah is afraid of Ladies:  1682 days ago

23. There is no similarities between "I wanna be your boyfriend" and "Girlfriend." In all honesty, who's heard of that band?! They just want to sue her for money. It's a bunch of crap. Everyone says Hey. They cant sue her for using a word like they did. It shows no copyright infringment.

Whatever Avril, I love you and you're beautiful.

Posted at 1:52PM on Jul 7th 2007 by Donnie
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Dear Donnie,

Just because they don't play a song on Radio Disney does not mean the song does not exist.

The object of your affection has outed herself as a fraud.

Try not to let it ruin your summer.

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66.

Yeah is afraid of Ladies:  1682 days ago

To those of you who don't know that her record label is already busting ass to settle this case, please explain how such a move would prove her (or her "co"-writers') innocence? I'm talking to you, Jerry!

And to you "musicologists": are you really trying to defend a bitch so fake she didn't even know how to pronounce David BOWIE's name? You guys are trippin' for real.

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67.

Jury of Jerry Colonnas:  1682 days ago

Wake Me . . . are YOU trying to defend the band who recorded the theme to "Revenge of the Nerds"? I mean, have you HEARD that musical doodiepile recently?

Regardless of how she pronounces David Bowie or D'yer Maker or Lily Allen, it still ain't the same song. Take a piano class or something so you'll have a teeny weeny idea what you're talking about next time.

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68.

ENOUGH ALREADY!:  1682 days ago

TMZ your site is so popular now that it appears these celebs are hiring people to post comments for them on your blog now. Congrats! I wonder if they realize it makes the star in question look even worse, if that was possible.

Regardless of the outcome on this case, this chick really sucks. Every picture I've seen of her is of her scowling and flipping people off or spitting. Very classy! Every interview she manages to bash people, either her fans or other stars. That's why people hate her, not because they're jealous.

Talentless, mass-marketed, cookie cutter entertainers like Avril never last long. In 30 years, no one will remember her or her music, if you could call it that. And hey, maybe some new pap tart will rip off the musical masterpiece "sk8terboy" or whatever it's called. Avril would of course sue, and the new pop tart could use the same line of defense : "I'm getting sued by some old singer from 30 years ago I've never heard of, her name is Avril Lavigne". That would be hilarious!

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69.

MarkToronto:  1682 days ago

I have ears and a brain.

Avril's song is about as close to a copy of the original as you get. It is unethical and illegal to steal other artists material. Now get to court and pay up.

And after you have dealt with that drama, you may consider giving proper credit to another song on the same album you claimed to have written (Chantal Craviatza's song).

Sad to see such a talented girl like Avril turn into a self serving plagerist.





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70.

byrdland49:  1682 days ago

Go to iTunes and listen to both. It's ridiculous that this is turning into a lawsuit....yes they both have some similar lyrics, but the melody and chords are very different. It's obviously just a money grab by some aging 80's rockers. The need to get a life.

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71.

LegalEaze:  1682 days ago

When I read this, I was shocked. Avril's lawyers must really suck because no real lawyers would allow their client to talk when a civil suit is ongoing. Now everything she's saying can be game for cross in a deposition. Stupid girl! U need to shut up now girl, open up ur checkbook and start writing at least six figures out. While ur at it Avril, you and Luke the Duke should also pay off Tony Basil for "Oh Mickey" cuz GF totally rips off that sound as well....calling Tony Basil's lawyers, come in! HA!

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72.

HAY HAY YOU YOU:  1682 days ago

http://avrilolol.ytmnd.com/

pretty obvious to me

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73.

Nicks:  1682 days ago

Just change the songwriting credits, baby.
You look more and more like a phony when you pull the Vanilla Ice treatment with your hit song.

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74.

Barb:  1682 days ago

Avril also went after Chantel Kraviazuk, one of the most talented, loved, and respected artists in Canada. Chantel called her to task on her writing skills, and now Avril's doing what she does best - being a spoiled, little immature bully and threatening Chantel with a lawsuit. WHAH WHAH WHAH! In five years, we'll all be saying Avril Who? Oh, and Avril can't sing either -- if you ever heard her live, you would hear an off-key, flat performance.

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75.

Art:  1682 days ago

As a songwriter myself, I can sympathize. There have been times I've written a killer song, only to realize later that it was eerily similar to a song that I had heard years back that was still deep inside my head. I hadn't even remembered the song-- but it was in my brain, and influencing what I thought was totally original. Luck for me, I'm a no-name musician playing a local bar seen, and when I realized my mistake I was able to scrap the song and start from scratch without getting my ass sued off. All the same, I CAN see how somebody could "steal" a song without even realizing they are doing it. She could be totally innocent in this-- but I'm not sure how that will hold up in court. She'll probably be forking over some serious dough!

For what it's worth, IMO, both songs f*%$in' suck-- and they should BOTH be paying us for making us hear them.

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