Slumpy Accurately Predicts the Future!

[SlumpBuster]

On May 5, 2007 I posted the following in Peru's thread about the band Lush:


I was also floored to hear Avril Levigne rip off the Lush b-side "I Wanna be Your Girlfriend" which was released on the Topolino compilation, for her single new "Girlfriend."
Lush in 1996: "Hey, hey, you, you, I wanna be your girlfriend."
Avril in 2007: "Hey, hey, you, you, I don't like your girlfriend."
Sombody's gonna get sued. Although the songs are significantly different, that hook is straight up stolen, with the theft (I think) being by cowriter Dr. Luke rather than Avril. (But, I actually think Avril's new album is phenomenal, and I love Dr. Luke's work.)

Today, almost two months later I find this posted by the AP:

Avril Lavigne Sued for Stealing Tune

Friday, July 6, 2007 11:58 AM EDT
The Associated Press


SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Avril Lavigne faces a lawsuit by the members of a 1970s rock band who claim her hit song "Girlfriend" rips off one of their tunes.

Songwriters Tommy Dunbar and James Gangwer alleged in a lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court that Lavigne and her co-writers lifted their 1979 song "I Wanna Be Your Boyfriend," which was originally performed by new wave band The Rubinoos.

"We are not so naive as to chalk it up to some sort of cosmic coincidence," Dunbar said Thursday. "The lyric, the meter, the rhythm — they're identical."

The first court date has been set for Aug. 28 in Oakland.

A spokeswoman for Lavigne declined to comment.

Videos comparing Lavigne's song with the Rubinoos' tune were among the most popular on YouTube Friday. Nearly half a million people had watched various clips highlighting the similarities between the songs.

The lawsuit is not the first mention of the similarities between the songs. Music critic Stephen Thomas Erlewine, in a review published on Billboard magazine's Web site, noted that the chorus of "Girlfriend" was a "total lift from the Rubinoos' `I Wanna Be Your Boyfriend.'"

The Rubinoos toured and recorded from 1975 to 1983 and had a hit with a cover version of Tommy James and the Shondells' "I Think We're Alone Now." They also wrote the theme song for the movie "Revenge of the Nerds."

Admitedly I did not correctly ID the band, but Lush did properly credit the song writers.

And, the LETS GO TO THE TAPE!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=adzkV58Gpqs

GOD! I LUV IT WHEN I'M RIGHT!

[bobsticks]

Maybe we need to hook-up Dunbar's lawyers with someone from the estate of Willie Dixon.

[ForeverAutumn]

I read this a couple of days ago. The article that I read said that the case would probably be settled out of court because the song writers don't have the money that a full blown court case would cost them.

http://ca.news.yahoo.com/s/capress/070704/entertainment/music_lavigne_lawsuit_4

[Rich-n-Texas]

Green chicklet for SlumpBuster! :thumbsup:

[Rich-n-Texas]

Maybe we need to hook-up Dunbar's lawyers with someone from the estate of Willie Dixon.
Whoever the f*ck he is!

Sorry, I'm on my fifth glass of Sherry. :frown5:

[SlumpBuster]

I read this a couple of days ago. The article that I read said that the case would probably be settled out of court because the song writers don't have the money that a full blown court case would cost them.

http://ca.news.yahoo.com/s/capress/070704/entertainment/music_lavigne_lawsuit_4


Thanks for the link FA. Actually, it says that Lavigne's camp is considering settlement already because of the cost of defense. They can deny it all they want, but I heard the similarity the first time I heard the song, so did the Billboard reviewer. Also, I have a limited edition CD of the album that came with a DVD documenting the making of the record. My wife and I finally watched it last night, and it is going to be Exhibit A to the lawsuit. They are working on the song, they have a little chorus lyric, they break for the night. Avril comes back in the morning after Dr. Luke worked on it over night and she's like "Oh my God, he had come up with the greatest hook."

In the middle of the night, when you need to deliver just one more hit, will you dance with the devil?

[kexodusc]

I read this a couple of days ago. The article that I read said that the case would probably be settled out of court because the song writers don't have the money that a full blown court case would cost them.

http://ca.news.yahoo.com/s/capress/070704/entertainment/music_lavigne_lawsuit_4

Second time in as many days I've seen an Avril article questioning her integrity:
Chantal Kreviazuk being the other alleged victim....
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20070704.wlavigne04/BNStory/Entertainment

Hmmmm, taking a page from the book of Zeppelin?

Nothing beats KD Lang getting pick-pocketed by the Stones a few years back, though...

[ForeverAutumn]

Hmmmm, taking a page from the book of Zeppelin?

You had to go and say it, didn't you? :biggrin5:

The article that I posted addresses Chantal's comments which, evidently, she has since retracted.

Last month, Kreviazuk suggested to Performing Songwriter magazine that Lavigne took credit for a song Kreviazuk wrote called "Contagious."

Kreviazuk told the publication she gave a song called "Contagious" to Lavigne two years ago and was surprised to see a track with the same name on Lavigne's current disc with a credit to Lavigne and songwriter Evan Taubenfeld.

McBride said Kreviazuk has never even heard the Lavigne track and has since retracted her statement.

"I know, personally, she regrets saying what she said," said McBride, adding the songs are nothing alike. "The interviewer obviously got Chantal on a bad day."

[SlumpBuster]

Kreviazuk just knows not to poop where she eats. She'll tow the line if she wants to keep her US distribution deal and continue quietly making great records without interference.

[MindGoneHaywire]

>Nothing beats KD Lang getting pick-pocketed by the Stones a few years back, though...

Which one was that?

The case involving the Stones that has similarities that I know of is the one where Allen Klein--not the Stones, per se--went after the Verve for how they used a sample they'd licensed for use on Bittersweet Symphony. The result is that Bittersweet Symphony is now a Jagger-Richards song, which seems like a bit of an overreach, but, hey, if Led Zep had to play by those rules, so should everyone, and nobody should be surprised that an overreach might occur (I think the license was to use five notes and they used seven, or something like that, but don't quote me on that). What made this extremely bizarre was that the Verve didn't use a sample from a Rolling Stones record, but a recording by the 'Andrew Loog Oldham Orchestra' that used string arrangements on some of their earlier originals as part of a marketing approach to develop a side career as professional songwriters, not just a band, which makes some sense since their first few albums had so many covers on them. Some of Oldham's attempts to position the Stones as songwriters-for-hire ended up on the Metamorphosis album as well.

There's probably a little too much similarity in the melody in that case, to go along with whatever the discrepancy was on the use of the sample itself, but the end result was pretty harsh if you ask me. How anyone could hear 'The Last Time' in any way, shape, or form in 'Bittersweet Symphony' if they're not listening for it is beyond me. If the sample issue was valid, and apparently it was, fine. But the implications of the end result--Mick Jagger & Keith Richards being nominated for a Grammy for Bittersweet Symphony? And that's not all, not by a long shot...like I said, seems harsh.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bittersweet_Symphony#Song_credits

http://www.superswell.com/samplelaw/horror.html

As for Lavigne, if that song violated copyright, all I have to say is, someone should've known better in this day & age. Especially at the record label, where I guess the budgets for damage control have shrunk. Almost seems prudent to negotiate a licensing agreement ahead of time to ward off this sort of thing.

[kexodusc]

Kreviazuk just knows not to poop where she eats. She'll tow the line if she wants to keep her US distribution deal and continue quietly making great records without interference.
Yeah, that's my first thought. Same record co, no?

Anyway, I'm not too upset about this, I pretty much expect it from the bubble-gum pop/and faux edgy rock industry now. Avril's just the latest example.

As for Kreviazuk - must suck to work 10 times as hard, have 10 times the talent, and get 1/10th the success...

[kexodusc]

>Nothing beats KD Lang getting pick-pocketed by the Stones a few years back, though...

Which one was that?

The case involving the Stones that has similarities that I know of is the one where Allen Klein--not the Stones, per se--went after the Verve for how they used a sample they'd licensed for use on Bittersweet Symphony. The result is that Bittersweet Symphony is now a Jagger-Richards song, which seems like a bit of an overreach, but, hey, if Led Zep had to play by those rules, so should everyone, and nobody should be surprised that an overreach might occur (I think the license was to use five notes and they used seven, or something like that, but don't quote me on that). What made this extremely bizarre was that the Verve didn't use a sample from a Rolling Stones record, but a recording by the 'Andrew Loog Oldham Orchestra' that used string arrangements on some of their earlier originals as part of a marketing approach to develop a side career as professional songwriters, not just a band, which makes some sense since their first few albums had so many covers on them. Some of Oldham's attempts to position the Stones as songwriters-for-hire ended up on the Metamorphosis album as well.

There's probably a little too much similarity in the melody in that case, to go along with whatever the discrepancy was on the use of the sample itself, but the end result was pretty harsh if you ask me. How anyone could hear 'The Last Time' in any way, shape, or form in 'Bittersweet Symphony' if they're not listening for it is beyond me. If the sample issue was valid, and apparently it was, fine. But the implications of the end result--Mick Jagger & Keith Richards being nominated for a Grammy for Bittersweet Symphony? And that's not all, not by a long shot...like I said, seems harsh.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bittersweet_Symphony#Song_credits

http://www.superswell.com/samplelaw/horror.html

As for Lavigne, if that song violated copyright, all I have to say is, someone should've known better in this day & age. Especially at the record label, where I guess the budgets for damage control have shrunk. Almost seems prudent to negotiate a licensing agreement ahead of time to ward off this sort of thing.
Lang's Constant Craving and the Stone's Anybody Seen My Baby - last I heard Lang and her co-writers were listed in the credits in later prints of the album.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anybody_Seen_My_Baby%3F

This gets into the question of chord progression/time signature, similarities eventually leading to duplication...I honestly question whether they lifted it purposely or this was just a inevitable coincidence...but I think it's cool to say the Stones ripped-off KD Lang. :cornut: