Matthew C. Clark Posted July 4, 2007 Share Posted July 4, 2007 Go to: http://jam.canoe.ca/Music/2007/07/04/4312590-cp.html for Avril Lavigne "Girlfriend" sued by Rubinoos "I Wanna Be Your Boyfriend". Matt Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hollies65 Posted July 4, 2007 Share Posted July 4, 2007 Ha! She totaly ripped it off and turned it into a shit song at the same time.Did she really think Dunbar and company were just gonna sit there and do nothing?? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MAM Posted July 5, 2007 Share Posted July 5, 2007 Interesting ..... my band buddy is currently in a fight with Hillary Duff over a tune he wrote 9 years ago. She did a tune in the past two years with the exact same title and VERY similar chorus. So far he's spent almost $10,000 fighting it with no resolve yet. Ahhh .. the music business, such a wonderful thing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lee Marshall Posted July 5, 2007 Share Posted July 5, 2007 I bought an Avril cd a few years ago...for my daughter. A.L's OK...from my 55 year old perspective which means diddly. She's done well with Girlfriend. So she ripped part of it off. Crap happens. Could be an unknowing thing that just kind of happened.Before we chastise her...let's remember that Led Zeppelin has settled how many out of court pagerism battles? It's over 20 and counting isn't it?Anyone remember My Sweet Lord/He's So Fine?Crap happens. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
marvin Posted July 5, 2007 Share Posted July 5, 2007 I don't know Avril's song that well, but I can't believe that she'd know who the Rubinoos are. If she did copy "I Want to Be Your Boyfriend", I'd have to believe that it was unintentional. Even in Eric's music you'll find bits and pieces of other songs. Eric every time I listen to "I Don't Know What I Want", I wonder how that one got past the Who.Marv Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hollies65 Posted July 5, 2007 Share Posted July 5, 2007 My god...go listen to the clip.... I'm sure you know the Rubinoos song in question...she probably does not do much of the actual writing...BUT...the is no way that's not a direct lift...and she'll lose or settle this suit. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hollies65 Posted July 5, 2007 Share Posted July 5, 2007 BTW Go listen to Radiohead's 'Creep' and The Hollies 'The Air That I Breath'...or 'Happy Xmas' [War Is Over]' by John Lennon and 'Stewball' by the Hollies or 'Hackensack' by FOW and 'Buddy Holly' by Weezer. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
marvin Posted July 5, 2007 Share Posted July 5, 2007 Hollies65 I know the Rubinoos song very well. I just listened to Avril's song, and there is a slight similarity in melody in Avril's "I want to be your girlfriend" line and the Rubinoos' line "I want to be your boyfriend." The rest of the songs are not alike at all, in my opinion.Marv Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hollies65 Posted July 5, 2007 Share Posted July 5, 2007 I knew you knew the Rubinoos song...I'd never heard the Avril song till today. Those other songs I listed were direct steals ...but no one sued anybody. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Raspbernie Posted July 5, 2007 Share Posted July 5, 2007 Avril works with lots of older power pop fans, so I'd bet that she's heard the song somewhere (I'm sure Butch Walker has some Rubes on his iPod). Along with the boyfriend/girlfriend thing, it's more about the repeated Hey (hey) You (you) part in my mind. Here's another way of looking at it: Avril's song hit #1 on the charts, so it's VERY familiar to anyone buying music today. If another artist were to do a cover of the Rubinoos tune now, would a record company exec say,"That ain't gonna fly, it's too close to Avril's song." If so, then IMHO Tommy Dunbar will see some cash on this one.BerniePS: The Rubinoos NEVER had this much press in their prime. Hey, worldwide attention, new box set…how 'bout a tour, Al?!? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnO Posted July 5, 2007 Share Posted July 5, 2007 This kind of thing happens all the time...it's just a matter of whether the original artist has the $$$, time and energy to pursue going after who's copied them. Led Zeppelin made a career of swiping others' lyrics and tunes, yet have only been sued and lost maybe once (or twice). I see this is only being positive for the Rubinoos.I just reviewed The Len Price 3's second album, Rentacrowd, and mentioned that at least three songs appear to have "borrowed" heavily from others (one song's verses sound just like The Who's "Substitute", another's sound just like The Easybeats' "Sorry", and yet another swipes half of its ideas from The Kinks' "I Need You", and the other half from "You ReallY Got Me.") Great, great album, BTW, in spite of the borrowings! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MAM Posted July 5, 2007 Share Posted July 5, 2007 BTW Go listen to Radiohead's 'Creep' and The Hollies 'The Air That I Breath' posted by hollies65wow .... I must be brain dead. I'm very familar with "The Air That I Breath", and our band plays "Creep". I'm not catching a similarity at all. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lee Marshall Posted July 5, 2007 Share Posted July 5, 2007 John...Led Zep only lost a couple of times because they settled out of court almost dozens of times. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hollies65 Posted July 5, 2007 Share Posted July 5, 2007 Ha! Listen to the verses....Thom Yorke has admitted he nicked it.I think it's the most obvious one. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hollies65 Posted July 5, 2007 Share Posted July 5, 2007 Google "similarities ,Creep Air that I Breath"....84K matches. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnO Posted July 5, 2007 Share Posted July 5, 2007 "John...Led Zep only lost a couple of times because they settled out of court almost dozens of times."Also because they borrowed tunes/lyrics from deceased artists more than a few times (I could be wrong, but I don't believe Robert Johnson's estate, assuming there is one, ever went after them....and Willie Dixon lived long enough to just sue them once. I'd also bet money that Plant thought that Moby Grape's Bob Mosley was still living in a cardboard box under a freeway in Santa Cruz when he morphed "Never" into "Since I've Been Loving You."....He got a surprise with that one!...which may have also been settled out of court, as Mose needed money.) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hollies65 Posted July 5, 2007 Share Posted July 5, 2007 I'd say they nicked more than anyone this side of Steve Miller. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
popdude Posted July 5, 2007 Share Posted July 5, 2007 I'd say they nicked more than anyone this side of Steve Miller. Or Nick Lowe. Ever heard "Stick it Where the Sun Don't Shine?" The main riff is a direct lift from CCR's "Green River." Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MAM Posted July 5, 2007 Share Posted July 5, 2007 Google "similarities ,Creep Air that I Breath"....84K matches. Be that as it may, if I play the guitar & sing "creep", I don't get the "feeling" that I'm actually doing "the air that I breathe". The musical part of my brain finds "the air that I breathe" boring, where as I find "creep" interesting. Of course this is just my opinion, but still, they sound like two totally different songs to me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hollies65 Posted July 5, 2007 Share Posted July 5, 2007 This guy says it better than I could...scroll down a bit...the guy with the degree in musichttp://www.metafilter.com/39802/Coldsum Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zuke Posted July 5, 2007 Share Posted July 5, 2007 Maybe Mick Jagger ought to sue them both and say,"Hey, Hey, You, You, get off of my cloud." Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeff Posted July 5, 2007 Share Posted July 5, 2007 Sorry ... just don't hear it .... I hear it as a similar vague "feel" to the 2, but, the chords are different ... more power to Dunbar - maybe his last chance to get the cash out of the music biz - look, "My Sweet Lord" and "He's So Fine" have the same "feel," and nothing hap..... OK, bad example Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Poptopian cult member Posted July 6, 2007 Share Posted July 6, 2007 Music does not exist in a vacuum.Music thrives with cross-pollination. I wonder how many of ALL of our favorite songs had another "source song" that it grew out of... I mean where does it end? How much of a song has to sound like something else for it to be a ripoff?The idea of "Intellectual property" is actually a fairly recent one. Once Lawyers got involved with popular music and there was serious money to be made. This isn't necessarily an "improvement" for the way music is made. I can't think of one single artist I love that hasn't at one point in time said something to the effect of "I wrote my song being inspired by song "X" It's just the reality of the matter. In fact I just ran across a 60's band who have a song that was more than a little similar to a Raspberries track.... didn't diminish my appreciation of either song one bit. THAT'S the history of music, people. Songs inspire other songs. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hollies65 Posted July 6, 2007 Share Posted July 6, 2007 Ha! I don't know how anyone can listen to the Avril track and not see the nick. I'll bet anyone the Rubinoos get paid. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hollies65 Posted July 6, 2007 Share Posted July 6, 2007 Nick Lowe....'Roller Show' nicks 'Chaple Of Love'. I swear I've heard EVERY Lowe song somewhere! But I love em all! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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