Punk Princess vs. Power Pop Band

The identical words in Avril Lavigne's "Girlfriend" and The Rubinoos "I Wanna Be Your Boyfriend" caused uproar between the two songwriters. The 1979 track with the lyrics, "Hey, Hey, You, You, I Wanna Be Your Boyfriend" and Lavigne's song Girlfriend, "Hey, Hey, You, You, I Want To Be Your Girlfriend" sound very similar. The chorus' match very closely and even sound much alike when you play them both after each other.

Both songs have the same rhythm it's just Avril's song is more modernized and sounds more like today's type of music. The rest of the song may have different lyrics but thats just enough to be considered plagiarized. The founder of the band the Rubinoos, Tommy Dunbar believes that she has taken his work and changed things to make it sound differently. Dumbar and other member of the band James Grangwer claim that the rhythm and meter are the same. The rest of the song may not have the same lyrics or tempo but the lyrics and the beat of the chorus sound very much alike. I think the copyrighting law has defiantly been broken by Avril Lavigne. She states, "I have never heard this song in my life..." but how can you get that close of a chorus if you have never heard it before? This is not Avril Lavigne's first issue with plagiarism. Chantal Kreviazuk once worked with Avril back in 2005 and claimed that she helped her write the song "Contagious" but noticed her name was nowhere to be found on the track listings.

The lawsuit between Queens 1981's song "Under Pressure" and Vanilla Ice's "Ice Ice Baby" also was a copyright issue. Both tunes sound extremely similar. I doesn't matter if the whole song sounds the same or just a verse; the plagiarism is still there. Avril Lavigne had no copyright permission which makes what she did wrong.

This lawsuit has not really affected Avril Lavigne's career in any way. Some people may have lost some respect for her but others may be on her side and also think she has done nothing wrong. Many of her fans are still by her side and support her through her career and personal life. The case is now over with and is not brought up too often anymore. There were no legal costs and the accusation has remained unsettled. So what do you think; did Avril Lavigne copy a 1970s hit, or is it all just a plot for money?

Click here to read the article MTV News wrote about the lawsuit incedent.