Avril settles lawsuit
2008-01-16 12:09
Cape Town - The songwriters of a 1970s rock band who accused singer Avril Lavigne of plagiarising one of their songs, have "exonerated" her.
Celebrity website TMZ.com reported The Rubinoos songwriters Tommy Dunbar and James Gangwer, issued a statement on Tuesday claiming they were satisfied that the similarities between their songs were a coincidence.
The songwriters had alleged in a lawsuit filed in US District Court last year that Lavigne and her co-writers lifted their 1979 song I Wanna Be Your Boyfriend, for her own hit song Girlfriend.
However, the 23-year-old singer said she had never heard the 1979 track and wrote on her official website: "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.
"Simply put, I have been falsely accused of ripping their song off. My songwriting partner Luke Gottwald and I have done nothing wrong and there is no merit to their claim."
'Common and widely used lyrics'
Now, Dunbar and Gangwer have issued the following statement completely renouncing their suit:
"We are satisfied that any similarities between the two songs resulted from Avril and Luke's use of certain common and widely used lyrics.
"We therefore completely exonerate Avril and Luke from any wrongdoing of any kind in connection with the claims made by us in our lawsuit."
According to The Canadian Press, the Rubinoos lawyer Nicholas Carlin said that a confidential settlement had been reached in the matter. He would not comment further.