NEWS: The Rubinoos sue, Avril not amused…

Posted on July 14, 2007 by Skittle.
Filed Under Downloads, MP3, News | 9 Comments
More from Avril Lavigne, The Rolling Stones, The Rubinoos

...OR DID SHE?! Avril Lavigne has had a lawsuit brought against her for writing uninspired, terrible music. Err… I mean plagiarism. An old band that no one really knows of anymore by the name of The Rubinoos says Avril’s new single “Girlfriend” from her latest album The Best Damn Thing (Buy it now! if you must) rips off their old song “I Wanna Be Your Boyfriend” from their self-titled album (Buy it now!). Avril’s man-slaves shoot back by claiming “I Wanna Be Your Boyfriend” rips off “Get Off of My Cloud” by The Rolling Stones. Full article and free downloads of all three mp3s in question (for research purposes) after the break…

So back when Avril released her latest album, The Best Damn Thing, I was less than impressed. The headlining single, “Girlfriend”, was something that I wasn’t very fond of either, finding it uninspired and trashy. I chalked my loss of a admirable musician up to Hollywood’s brainwashing and money-hungry businessmen and went on my Avril-less way to continue my life. However, one day while checking the latest in music news online she popped up with the headline ‘Suing Songwriters Don’t Like Avril’s “Girlfriend”,’ and I couldn’t help but check that out. It appeared that songwriters Tommy Dunbar and James Gangwer are suing Avril for copyright infringement, claiming that the song ripped off the Rubinoos song “I Wanna Be Your Boyfriend” released back in 1979. Being the curious bugger that I am, I took to finding the old song and gave it a listen. And yes, it does sound very similar. Most of the lawsuit lies on the “Hey! (hey) You! (you) I wanna be your boyfriend” line in the Rubinoos chorus, claiming that Avril’s “Hey! (hey) You! (you) I don’t like your girlfriend” line from her chorus is simply a rewording of theirs. Subtle similarities are present throughout the entire song, however, which just might give the aging rockers a chance in hell.

Avril and her attorneys have basically dismissed the case as ridiculous. They claim the just because the song is similar doesn’t make it plagiarism, stating “All songs share similar lyrics and emotions. As humans we speak one language.” The attack their claiming ownership of the “Hey! (hey) You! (you)” line by pointing out that The Rubinoos copied The Rolling Stones’ 1965 hit “Get Off of My Cloud” which boasts the same line in it’s chorus. However, The Rubinoos have thus far refused to back down and a court date has been set for August 28, 2007.

So what is your opinion on the matter? I’ve included mp3s of all three songs so that you can hear for yourself: Avril Lavigne’s pop-trash “Girlfriend”, The Rubinoos’ forgotten track “I Wanna Be Your Boyfriend”, and The Rolling Stones’ dragged into this mess against it’s will hit “Get Off of My Cloud”. Are The Rubinoos just out to get a stab at Avril’s money seeing as they aren’t getting much for their music anymore? Is Avril an uncreative pop princess who just sings what she’s told? (Well, we knew that one already… but in this case) Or do musicians just have too damn much time on their hands? (Right-click, save as)

These mp3s are included for research purposes and therefore I believe should be postable. Oh, and by the way this plagurism lawsuit pales in comparison to UB40 vs. Paris Hilton. That one is just insane!

REVIEW: Avril Lavigne, "The Best Damn Thing"

Comments

9 Responses to “NEWS: The Rubinoos sue, Avril not amused…”

jeny on October 25th, 2008 1:00 pm

avril never copied her song is much better she rocks
boo the rubinoos
emily on October 29th, 2008 6:44 pm

wut the f**k!!! she had never even heard of that song. did it ever occur to people that maybe that avril wrote that song because the lyrics to it ment something to her? just because avril is a brilliant singer, people are looking for ways to mess with her and make her look bad. that’s just sad!
junie on December 3rd, 2008 4:16 pm

The Rubinoos song is plenty derivative — though a lot more charming than the Avril Levigne “song” which is hardly even music — and I’m not necessarily an AL hater. But that thing is just overproduced and plasticy with a trashy jerry-springer-show head-wagging in tone. ehh.

Maybe the Stones should sue the Rubinoos — and that “Hey Mickey” gal from the 80′s should sue Avril Levigne! Think about the chant in the beginning: “Hey Mickey, you’re so fine, you’re so fine you blow my mind. Hey Mickey! Hey Mickey!” (I think). The Avril Levigne “song” sounds as much like that as anything!

It’s all kind of silly, really.
matthew on August 27th, 2009 5:04 pm

avril always was and always will be a fake. remember david BOW-ie?

while were at it, why not mention the ramone’s tune “i wanna be your boyfriend” which avril was more likely to have heard…

the “i’m a fucking princess” line really drives it home.
Me on August 6th, 2010 9:47 pm

@matthew what ‘really drives it home’ is the fact you don’t know the lyrics yet you make fun of them…
anjelina on January 14th, 2011 6:27 am

it’s so ridiculus. avril is a wonderful singer and none of these things can make her look bad she is the brightest young singer that i’ve ever seen.
Kirk on June 24th, 2011 5:00 am

This article is way too biased. You obviously don’t like her. I think that hey hey you you in the chorus, and the songs barely sounding similar after that is a stupid reason to blame Avril for stealing.
Skittle on June 24th, 2011 2:42 pm

I used to like her. I just don’t like bad songs.
sadie on December 18th, 2011 6:00 pm

avril being aware of such an obscure band? I dont think so. if avril knew good music, then the music she makes would be slightly less shitty. I dont think avril knows anything beyond her miniscule world of music known as Goo Goo Dolls-Green Day-Linkin Park-And the Occaisonal Over-Played Oldies song.