Avril Lavigne will steal your girlfriend and make tons of money doing it.

Avril Lavigne is in trouble. And no, not for the reason I always thought she would (sex tape?), but for something a little more serious. Apparently, she's stolen musical ideas from an old 70s band called Rubinoos. Here is the deal according to AOL Music Online:

Tommy Dunbar, the founder of the Rubinoos, filed the suit in California's Northern Federal District Court in San Francisco July 2. The suit alleges that "Girlfriend" bears striking similarities to the Rubinoos' song "I Wanna Be Your Boyfriend," co-written by Dunbar and former Rubinoos' road manager James Gangwer, and released by Beserkley Records in 1978.

Someone has been nice enough to post a video comparison on Youtube so I'll show it to you here and you can decide for yourself.

Here's what I think. The ideas are too similar. They might be different keys, and different chords but who the hell is this musicologist that was hired and declared the songs to be in different meter? Was it a 15 year old Intro to Music student? I don't mean to get too geeky about this one but it bothers me that Dunbar might lose this case because I doubt he has got the money to hire the kinds of lawyers that Avril can. The songs are too similar, I think. Just because one sounds like a shitty 70s rock song and one sounds like a shitty 2007 song doesn't mean the man's claims are unfounded.

I know that in songwriting it just kind of happens sometimes that you steal an idea without meaning to, or without evening knowing you did. But if it does happen I suppose you have to give credit where it is due when someone calls you out on it. Though, I imagine it gets hairy when you're being sued by a middle aged rock star who has no way to make money off of his music anymore and sees your accidental thievery as his last chance to pay off his mortgage. He might not be so forgiving.

But I think Avril and her producers definitely stole directly from this man and should pay the price for it. They have to give him credit. If they don't then it'll just be another sad example of the giant music industry crushing the little guy in order to allow for the crimes of the big guy, er... girl.