Underclass King
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Post by Underclass King on Apr 1, 2017 17:18:42 GMT
In 2007, Tommy Dunbar and Jon Rubin of The Rubinoos, a 1970s power-pop band, filed a plagiarism lawsuit against Avril Lavigne due to similarities between Lavigne's #1 hit "Girlfriend" and their song "I Wanna Be Your Boyfirend". The similarities stem from the chorus in which The Rubinoos sing "Hey (Hey), You (You), I wanna be your boyfriend" while Lavigne sings "Hey, hey, you, you, I want to be your girlfriend". Avril Lavigne Publishing, Lukasz Gottwald (Dr. Luke), RCA Records, and Apple Inc. would also be named as defendants in the case. Lavigne's and her manager would deny the accusation with Avril posting the following on her MySpace: The two parties would later settle out of court in January 2008. So do you believe Avril intentionally "copied" The Rubinoos' song? Is it all coincidental? Or maybe Dr. Luke knew the song and was the one who "copied" the phrase? Here are the two songs for comparison:
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Neil
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Post by Neil on Apr 1, 2017 17:22:38 GMT
The similarities are more than just a coincidence, I think. Beyond that, it's pretty hard to ascribe blame to any individual.
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BogoGog24
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Post by BogoGog24 on Apr 1, 2017 17:39:16 GMT
Funny story, a long time ago in college I actually did a report on this for a math class because we were talking about some kind of concept used in math to come up with logical theories. And we had to use a real life example, go through the steps, and determine a theory using logic. I wish I still had it. But this is what I thought about when I was writing it:
I think it's probably safe to say that if the song was copied at all, it wasn't by Avril herself. The song came out in 1979 and to my knowledge was a minor hit in America, but nowhere else. Given that she was born in 1984 and grew up in Canada, and also knowing how strict her parents were about what kind of music she listened to, it's incredibly unlikely she would have ever heard this song.
Dr. Luke, though, is another story. He would have been young enough I think to have possibly heard it. Maybe the copying wasn't intentional and it's just one of those things that comes out of your subconscious when you're trying to write a song and maybe what he started playing on guitar was similar, but it would honestly be a pretty weird and random song to try to copy. Until this lawsuit happened, no one knew that song or the band. Which leads me to my next point.
I think the band was just trying to ultimately cash in on Girlfriend's success. It happens every time a song becomes a huge hit, some artist comes out saying it sounds like one of their songs. Sometimes the claim is founded, sometimes it's not. Yes the 2 lines do sound extremely similar. But "Hey you I wanna be your boyfriend/girlfriend" is a pretty common set of lyrics. And if that is the only part of the song that is similar, I don't think there is much basis for a lawsuit. Had the song copied it more closely in terms of beat, musical rhythm, etc. maybe they would have had a case. Had Girlfriend not been such a huge hit, I don't think they would have tried to sue her. Let's also examine the fact that once this lawsuit came out, suddenly people actually knew the song and the band, who were otherwise both obscure before.
In conclusion, I think it's incredibly unlikely Avril herself copied the song. She stated when writing it that Luke played some guitar chords, Avril was drunk, and she started singing "Hey hey you you I want to be your girlfriend." If the song was copied at all by either her or him or both of them, it may have been unintentional, a brief recalling of the song from hearing it years ago in childhood, if even that. It's a possibility Luke himself copied the song. But more likely I think this obscure band saw an opportunity to cash in on a hit.
ETA: I listened to a verse and a chorus of the Rubinoos song as I haven't heard it in a long time and wanted to see just how similar they really are. Other than the "Hey you I wanna be your boyfriend" part, there are no musical similarities between these songs. They are both pop/punk in style. But the tempos are different, Girlfriend is much faster. And I think they are in different keys. Other than that 1 line, they aren't even musically similar.
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sliperslip
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Post by sliperslip on Apr 1, 2017 18:10:20 GMT
my Kween didn't copy anybody, they copied her even before she was born, that's how great she is and she was so nice that she didn't sue them #Legend #QueenOfUniverse #HartOfGold #BlindFan
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⋆niki⋆
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Post by ⋆niki⋆ on Apr 1, 2017 19:32:30 GMT
I heard that the chorus came to her mind when she was travelling and she recorded the lyrics singing into her mobile phone. Idk where I saw this article though
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eismann
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Post by eismann on Apr 1, 2017 21:48:08 GMT
I think it's coincidence - I mean 'hey hey you you I don't like your girlfriend/boyfriend' is not that original and creative. But I get why she didn't want a lawsuit and they had an agreement out of court. Her statement is a bit unprofessional though and not mature (well she wasn't mature at that time but her lawyer should have known better). I don't think its a valid argument to say that she wouldn't know the song because it wasn't famous. I think a lot if copied or stolen samples are from songs that most people don't know. None would steal from a famous song, because everyone would notice immediately.
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Bootylicious Batch
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Post by Bootylicious Batch on Apr 1, 2017 22:59:31 GMT
Dr Luke & Avril most likely used the song Hey Mickey as a reference point for Girlfriend/the majority of TBDT other than The Rubinoos song, which probably they both never heard of (especially Avril). I agree with BogoGog24 that the 'band was just trying to ultimately cash in on Girlfriend's success'. If it wasn't for this lawsuit with Avril, I still would have never heard of The Rubinoos.
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BogoGog24
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Post by BogoGog24 on Apr 1, 2017 23:07:34 GMT
I think that TBDT song was based off Hey Mickey and Luke based Girlfriend off of TBDT.
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Jack
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Post by Jack on Apr 2, 2017 7:13:51 GMT
Yeah, pretty much what BogoGog24 said Considering that Luke allegedly ripped of TBDT song, and that song is already quite similar to Hey Mickey, it all comes from the latter song, most likely. Luke could've known the song and copied it, but it could be just a coincidence.. Obviously the line Rubinoos based their suit on is one of the most important parts of the song and it was quite similar, so it was a big deal; a long on-court process could've damaged Avril (and Luke as well) even more, so it makes sense that an off-court settlement happened.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Apr 5, 2017 22:49:14 GMT
I wanna see the equation you came up with to describe this Bogo 🤓
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Sarah93
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Post by Sarah93 on Apr 6, 2017 7:19:57 GMT
my Kween didn't copy anybody, they copied her even before she was born, that's how great she is and she was so nice that she didn't sue them #Legend #QueenOfUniverse #HartOfGold #BlindFan As always, I agree with you Besides I also agree with BogoGog24 and yes, if it weren't because of that lawsuit I would have never heard of that song, let alone that band!
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