OlderAvril Lavigne Addresses Songwriting Scandal
On her official website, Avril Lavigne addresses the legal action that is being taken against her for stealing a song. Check it out:
To my dear media, friends, and fans,
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.
And slap in the face #2
I was going to be the bigger person and not reply when I read Chantal Kreviazuk’s article in Performing Songwriter magazine. Now that all the media have caught on to her little interview, I need to speak. Chantal’s comments are damaging to my reputation and a clear defamation of my character and I am considering taking legal action. Chantal has accused me of taking a song idea from her because I happen to have a song on my new record with the same title.
For the record, I wrote a song with Evan Taubenfeld which coincidentally has the same title as a song Chantal had sent me a few years ago. Our songs have no similarities and opposite meanings, i.e. different lyrics, different melody, different genres. In Chantal’s own words “the only similarity is in the title.” I originally wrote this with Evan for his record and I ended up with it. Funny enough when I decided to put “Contagious” on my album we had to change the words from “she” to “he” in order for it to work on my record. There are hundreds of songs out there with the title “Contagious,” 75+ on iTunes alone.
Chantal has also made false accusations about my writing skills. I am so over this topic. This letter is not about this. I am not going to sit here and defend my writing skills. I don’t have to prove anything to anyone. I know who I am and what I have done and accomplished and no one can take that away from me.
My decision to discontinue working with Chantal after co-writing together on my second record was simply based on the fact that we had no hits together. That is why her name is not on this record, despite her numerous attempts to be included, which were always denied. From my perspective this is a clear case of bitterness. Chantal is upset that she didn’t get to be a part of my record. She did email me after the article came out apologizing and I forgive her but I have to put the truth out there so my fans are not confused by these false accusations.
Let it be crystal clear that I have not ripped anyone off or done anything wrong. I have never had to deal with anything publicly like this and surely never wanted to. I do not deserve this negative press and attention. I take pride in the songs that I write and appreciate the opportunities to work with some great writers and musicians.
My fans have been so dedicated to my music and it is because of them that I have this amazing career. Thank you again to my fans for continuing to be so supportive. This is a very positive time for me in my life. I have a very successful career and I feel very lucky to have accomplished all that I have. I am so thankful every day.
I would like to say more but my lawyers have advised me not to. Why is it when you get to a certain level people want to attack you?…. and now I have said my piece.
Avril
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55 Comments
Her credibility?! What credibility? Just another useless pop star.
BTW, ‘hipocrite’ is spelt ‘hypocrite’ not ‘hipocrite’. But I agree, she totally is one. Obviously still hung up on loathing her hubby’s previous relationship with Paris Hilton dispite the fact that she totally wants to be her.
Credibility?! What credibility?! Just another useless pop star.
BTW, ‘hipocrite’ is spelt ‘hypocrite’. But I agree, she totally is one. Obviously still hung up on loathing her hubby’s ex Paris Hilton dispite the fact that she totally wants to be her.
Avril is a no talent hack and I say this not because I despise her, but for the simple fact that more established writers have come out to expose her for the fraud that she is. If you consider adding a word here or there to a song as being an accomplished writer, then you’re delusional. Her entire letter trying to justify the blatant theft of someone elses work is as believe as Vanilla Ice’s “ting defense” when he got the crap sued out of him by David Bowie and Freddie Mercury for stealing the beat to their song “Under Pressure.” I’m really put off by her.
The measure of a true punk isn’t dependent on how many times you spit on a person, wear really dark eyeliner to show how deep you are, throw the “F bomb” around or take a bunch of celebutard pics of you giving the paps the finger. A true punk is a person that never has to promote the fact they are a punk (as Avril does, just look at her interviews). Punk is a way of life, a state of being and I’m sad that there are so many whining “musicians” coming out feebly trying to take on the punk moniker.
The music and the lyrics are way too similar - the song is a total rip-off. George Harrison, John Lennon and Ray Parker Jr. were sued for less…and lost.
Go Avril!
If anything, Girlfriend is a rip-off of TKO by Le Tigre.
But I too was shock by the similarities:
“Hey Hey, You you, I want to be your girlfriend.”
“Hey. You. I want to be your boyfriend.”
chantal is a dumb *****
avril is stupid to take a HUGE STEP BACK on her new
album i really liked old avril …i hate new avril..
this issue really turned me off on Avril but I guess this clears it up a bit.
Why is it that when something becomes successful, someone ALWAYS tries to sue them for ’stealing’ the idea. First Knocked Up, then this…what’s next?
Avril is a loser and her songs are only getting childish, repetitive and boring.
Just lame.
She used to be great.
LOL and this is the girl that Clive Davis said had the best album he’d heard in years HAHAHAHA! seriously… I’ve always seen questions about Avril’s “actual” writing ability….. she’s questionable at best as an authentic artist and then to rip off a song from a band in the 70s? well all I can say is she and Dr. Luke admit to being drunk through most of the recording of TBDT so perhaps that can be their defense? they both probably assumed that everyone from that band was dead and no one would know… The chorus on those songs is exactly alike…so it goes beyond similar words…I agree that words and phrases can be similar in songs, that’s natural but when the melody and the structure of that wording is exactly the same there’s a problem.
I predict she’ll end up settling out of court….
as for her remarks about Chantal… I have to laugh… Avril’s second album was much better than this current one but no surprise that all she cares about is having hits….real artiste there… She’s a poser and always has been…
Puh Leeze…If I sat in a room all day and tried to come up with a song about wanting to be a boyfriend, it would eventually sound just like the other one too. There’s only so much you can do in music. If Jessica Simpson didn’t have to pay when her song sounded EXACTLY like Jack&Diane, then I think Avril is more than ok.
We love Avril, that 70’s band (that ive never heard of either) is just trying to make some money out of it. They do not OWN the words “hey hey you you,” lots of songs have those words in them.
Egotistical brat. Who does she think she’s giving the finger to whenever the paps try to get her picture. HER FANS! The video to this song - she should BE ASHAMED OF HERSELF. Glorifyng bullying IS NOT COOL. I am ashamed to call her Canadian.
This girl is such an attention, media wh**re that she probably stole the song on purpose and got in cahoots with that band to cause a scandal and get more attention to herself. Hopefully everyone sees what a fake, no-talented, spoiled wannna-be hollywood girl she has become, and that they don’t have to buy her ****** music, it’s all freely available on the internets.
I wish she had not dignified any of this crap with a response. I’m no Avril fan, but she shouldnt have to even give this the time of her day,.
She needs to go back to Canada and have weird looking kids with her hubby and just enjoy her money and leave us all alone!! Thank you Avril if you do this
LOSER
Interesting that she could be accused of stealing someone else’s song when all rappers/hip hop artists do is ’sample’ (a.k.a. ’steal’) other people’s songs.
Who cares? She’s acting like a petulant child. Putting out a message like this that is long and whiney doesn’t do much to repair her reputation… it just makes it clear how young she actually is.
If she had to put out a statement, it shouldn’t have been an accusatory, bitter novel.
Not a huge fan of her stuff, but have to admit the girl has class. Articulate and well-thought out statement. Compare to Britney’s garbled notes on her website, anyone?
talentless poser. she is so stupid and worthless. this is the same girl who claimed to be “punk” and didn’t know who vicious was.
Avril i believe u Avril Lavigne all the way!!
This interview alone proves her inability to be articulate so, I believe her when she says she wrote her music. Besides, who would lie about writing crap like that. :D
#44 sampling is not the same. When a producer samples a song they get LEGAL clearance to do so.
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