Did Avril's Girlfriend Want to be The Rubinoos Boyfriend?

Have you even noticed how much the song 'Girlfriend' written by Avril Lavigne and Luke Gottwald sounds like 'I Wanna be Your Boyfriend' by The Rubinoos? Tommy Dunbar of The Rubinoos did and he sued Avril for copyright infringement in July of 2007. Even though Lavigne claimed to have never heard the 1979 Rubinoos hit, the song she wrote has the same basic tempo, rhythm and the chorus has similar lyrics.

Based on what has been reported, and the information I have gathered on the case, I believe that copyright has been broken. Even though Avril claimed to have unknowingly wrote a song similar to The Rubinoos, it seems almost too similar to be overlooked. The Canadian Copyright Act states in section 27; "A copy or fixation of a work or sound recording would infringe copyright if the portion is crucial to the owners work or sound recording." Although Lavigne said she didn't steal the song in court on August 28Th of 2007, Dunbar replied with, ""We are not so naive as to chalk it up to some sort of cosmic coincidence.The lyric, the meter, the rhythm ... they're identical." Even though I believe that nothing is original in today's music age, it would have been fine for Avril to give some credit to The Rubinoos.

Many people have controversial thoughts on this subject. Some are saying "F--- Avril...She committed plagiarism." Others, however, are on her side saying "It's not similar ... Rubinoos only need to get some money because they [weren't] popular in 1970" and some just say, "Both songs suck." Avril is in jeopardy of losing fans but the people who really like her music will most likely stick by her. She is sticking to her story of never having heard of The Rubinoos and that is really the best thing for her to do even if she knows that she plagiarized.

Based on the situation, I would have sued Avril Lavigne if I was Dunbar. The song is very similar in many ways and she could have done some research and given him some recognition, or even an apology when he first made the allegations. Dunbar wrote the original song and it sounds like all he wants is to be recognized for inspiring a hit song. Assuming that she is guilty, Avril should give him the recognition he deserves and then she can carry on with her rising music career and Dunbar can go back to wherever he had been for the past 35 years.

Here's a cool video of the comparison with a few other facts about what happened.



Also, check this article out for more information.
Montgomery, James. Avril Lavigne Responds to Lawsuit. 9 July 2007. . http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1564324/20070709/lavigne_avril.jhtml.>