Avril Lavigne kicked off a obviously slow music news weekend by posting an open letter (addressed to the closest people in her life: "Media, Friends, and Fans") to her Web site on Friday. While Avril's "news" page is generally dedicated to hot, while somewhat impersonal, updates like "Girlfriend Remix fan-video update!" or "The Best Damn Thing Deluxe Edition (w/new bonus tracks) now available at iTunes!," this piece of news read just like a page torn from Avril's fifth-period biology notebook. You know, the one with "I [Heart] Deryck 4-Ever" on it.


Lavigne, obviously stung by the accusations of musical plagarism that surfaced last week, fought back in the only way she knows how: An extended lawyer-approved rant about how "so over it" she is.
You may have heard some news that two guys who wrote for some band from the 1970s I have never in my life heard of called the "Rubinoos" are trying to sue me. They have a song called "I Want To Be Your Boyfriend" that has no musical similarities to the song "Girlfriend" that Luke Gottwald and I wrote together. They claim that a small part of the lyrics are the same and are saying that I took these from them. 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.

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. Simply put, I have been falsely accused of ripping their song off. Luke and I have done nothing wrong and there is no merit to their claim.
Don't think you got away with dissing Avril publicly, Chantal Krevaziuk. She has some words for you, too. In fact, you're the one to blame for the lackluster sales of her second album!
I was going to be the bigger person and not reply when I read Chantal Kreviazuk's [sic] article in Performing Songwriter magazine. Now that all the media have caught on to her little interview, I need to speak. Chantal's comments are damaging to my reputation and a clear defamation of my character and I am considering taking legal action. Chantal has accused me of taking a song idea from her because I happen to have a song on my new record with the same title.

For the record, I wrote a song with Evan Taubenfeld which coincidentally has the same title as a song Chantal had sent me a few years ago. Our songs have no similarities and opposite meanings, i.e. different lyrics, different melody, different genres. In Chantal's own words "the only similarity is in the title." I originally wrote this with Evan for his record and I ended up with it. Funny enough when I decided to put "Contagious" on my album we had to change the words from "she" to "he" in order for it to work on my record. There are hundreds of songs out there with the title "Contagious," 75+ on iTunes alone....

My decision to discontinue working with Chantal after co-writing together on my second record was simply based on the fact that we had no hits together. That is why her name is not on this record, despite her numerous attempts to be included, which were always denied. From my perspective this is a clear case of bitterness. Chantal is upset that she didn't get to be a part of my record. She did email me after the article came out apologizing and I forgive her but I have to put the truth out there so my fans are not confused by these false accusations.
Later in the letter, Avril mentions that she would have responded to these outrageous accusations earlier, but The Matrix weren't returning her calls, and Dr. Luke was busy in the studio all day.
To My Dear Media, Friends, and Fans [Avril Lavigne]

[Photo: Getty Images]
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