Didn't someone post earlier that Dr. Luke had actually produced a cover version of the Rubinoos' tune earlier in his career? Gottwald's quote in this article would seem to directly refute that. Curious, because it seems it would be a fairly easy statement to refute. Ron K. ----- Original Message ----- From: "Drew MacDonald" To: Sent: Wednesday, July 11, 2007 11:53 AM Subject: Re: rubinoos/avril you decide > I'm way behind on Audities posts in general and this thread in > particular, but here's something from today's entertainment section of > the Los Angeles Times: > > > LAVIGNE CLASH WIDENS > Songwriters, lawyers, musicologists and PR people get into the debate > over the genesis of 'Girlfriend.' > > > By Chris Lee, Times Staff Writer > July is shaping up to be the cruelest month for Avril Lavigne. > > Over the last two weeks, the pop princess' carefully crafted image as > the anti-Britney — that is, a chart-topping ingenue who writes her own > songs, spits at paparazzi and has shaped her own spiky-yet-vulnerable > image — has come under attack on multiple fronts. > > In a lawsuit made public last week, the 22-year-old Canadian superstar > is being sued for copyright infringement for allegedly plagiarizing a > substantial part of "I Wanna Be Your Boyfriend," a song by '70s new > wave group the Rubinoos, for her worldwide smash hit "Girlfriend." > > As with most Information Age disputes, the controversy has spilled > over onto YouTube.com, where various video clips highlighting > similarities between the two songs — specifically, their sing-song-y, > call-and-response choruses of "Hey, hey/You, you" — have been streamed > more than 1.4 million times since last Wednesday. > > Now, speaking publicly on the matter for the first time, > "Girlfriend's" co-writer Lukasz "Dr. Luke" Gottwald has lashed out at > the plaintiffs — songwriters James Gangwer and original Rubinoos > member Tommy Dunbar — denying allegations that he and Lavigne "copied" > "Boyfriend." > > "I never heard of the Rubinoos before the lawsuit," said Gottwald, an > in-demand producer who has crafted hits for Kelly Clarkson, Pink and > Daughtry, among others. "I never heard of the song and neither has > Avril. I would take a polygraph on that in front of them." > > "Me and Avril wrote the song together," Gottwald told The Times. "It > started out with Avril wanting to make something fun and upbeat. It > has the same chord progressions as 10 different Blink-182 songs, the > standard changes you'd find in a Sum 41 song. It's the Sex Pistols, > not the Rubinoos." > > The lead singer of the Rubinoos, Jon Rubin (who is not a part of the > lawsuit because he didn't write it), told The Times that in terms of > meter and chord progression, "Girlfriend" bears a close resemblance to > "I Wanna Be Your Boyfriend." He also thinks that "Girlfriend" has more > similarities to a 1997 cover version of the song, retitled "I Wanna Be > Your Girlfriend" by the female-fronted Brit-pop band Lush. Rubin said: > "We got tons of e-mails about it. 'You guys must be collecting big > dough now.' Well, actually not." > > "Girlfriend" has sold 2.6 million copies worldwide and topped singles > charts in the U.S., Italy, New Zealand, Austria, Ireland and Sweden. > Lavigne was unreachable for comment, her manager said, but defended > herself Friday on her MySpace page: > > "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," the singer writes. "Simply put, I have > been falsely accused of ripping their song off. Luke and I have done > nothing wrong and there is no claim to their part." > > Lavigne's mensis horribilis began with the June issue of Performing > Songwriter magazine (which went largely overlooked by the media until > making headlines in Canada last week then rippling out around the > world), in which Chantal Kreviazuk, who co-wrote much of Lavigne's > 2004 triple platinum-selling album "Under My Skin," ridiculed the > notion that Lavigne writes her own material. > > The allegation cuts to the core of Lavigne's self-made persona. > > "I mean, Avril, songwriter?" Kreviazuk said in the article. "Avril > doesn't really sit and write songs by herself or anything." And in the > interview, the songwriter said that she brought Lavigne a song called > "Contagious" that was rejected, only to later discover a song called > "Contagious" turn up on Lavigne's third album, "The Best Damn Thing," > that song credited to Lavigne and co-writer Evan Taubenfeld. > > Lavigne has responded to those allegations on MySpace. > > "Chantal's comments are damaging to my reputation and a clear > defamation of my character and I am considering taking legal action," > Lavigne writes. > > On Tuesday, Kreviazuk, who is represented by Nettwerk Music Group, a > management firm that also represents Lavigne, issued a retraction, > saying in part: "Avril has in no way stolen my song…. My statements > and any inference from my statements, which call into question Avril's > ethics or ability as a respected and acclaimed songwriter should be > disregarded and retracted." > > Over the last week, a publicity firm hired by "Boyfriend's" > songwriters has traded accusatory press releases with Lavigne's > manager, Terry McBride, and her label, Sony BMG. Each camp blames the > other for taking the case public. The complaint was filed in U.S. > District Court in San Francisco in late May, but was posted on the > Internet last week. > > "We were surprised and taken completely off guard," McBride said. "We > were in settlement discussions. Then on July 3, I start getting > deluged with interview requests. We've been professional. They broke > the news. We've had to react to it." > > Nicholas Carlin, a lawyer for songwriters Dunbar and Gangwer, denied > drawing first blood. "I have every respect for Avril Lavigne. We tried > everything we could to keep it out of the public eye," he said. > "That's why we filed the complaint with Mr. Gottwald named as the > first defendant — so that the press wouldn't pick up on it > immediately." > > Both the plaintiffs and defendants hired musicologists to prepare > reports on "Girlfriend's" and "Boyfriend's" respective similarities > and dissimilarities. > > Not surprisingly, Dunbar and Gangwer's musicologist found "an > unusually high degree of similarity between the songs," Carlin said. A > report by musicologist Anthony Ricigliano, commissioned by Lavigne's > management and made available to The Times, states: "Although these > compositions contain similar material, they do not share any > significant similarity in lyric content, melodic content (pitch > series, rhythm or rhythmic patterns, melodic development or structure) > or harmonic content, to suggest that 'Girlfriend' was copied from > 'Boyfriend.' " " > > In 2001, Ricigliano famously testified on behalf of singer Michael > Bolton in the landmark copyright infringement case Three Boys Music > vs. Michael Bolton. In that case, the jury went against Ricigliano's > expert opinion, awarding $5.4 million to the plaintiffs, the Isley > Brothers, who claimed Bolton had ripped off their 1966 song "Love Is a > Wonderful Thing" for his 1991 hit with the same title. > > Gottwald admitted to conflicting impulses of outrage and conciliation. > "I've never been sued before for plagiarism," he said. "I'm > disappointed in humanity but open to discussions. I would love to talk > to [Dunbar and Gangwer] to sit down with them and steer them in a > direction to be positive." > > ________________________________ > chris.lee@latimes.com > >