Bratty mall-punk Avril Lavigne and songwriting cohort Dr. Luke recently faced accusations that her hit song “Girlfriend” was largely stolen from the Rubinoos’ 1979 song, “I Wanna Be Your Boyfriend.” As the comparison here illustrates, the two songs are rather remarkably similar.

Lavigne denied that she had ever even heard the Rubinoos song, but the case was ultimately settled out of court, presumably for a considerable wad of cash.

Given the fact that Lavigne doesn’t exactly seem like a music expert (remember when she mispronounced David Bowie’s name while introducing the Grammy nominee in 2003? Read about it, here.), we believe she probably hadn’t heard the Rubinoos song. But, it seems likely that her songwriting partners had.

AOL reports that Dr. Luke is being investigated again, and this time he’s taking former American Idol contestant Chris Daughtry with him. In handy video clips, AOL compares Daughtry’s schmaltzy song, “Feels Like Tonight” with the Asphalt’s “Tonight.”

Once again, the verdict seems pretty obvious.

Regardless of whether these songs were actually plagiarized, the fact remains: they suck.

And, if these songs are not only awful, but also stolen, then that is truly pathetic.
It’s one thing to write a bad song—but to swipe one?

Of course, Daughtry and Lavigne aren’t the first music stars to be accused of unlawfully copying someone else’s music.

Over the years, numerous rap and hip-hop groups have faced charges for illegal use of samples, but at least those infringements are at little more obvious, and perhaps less malicious.

In 1976, Beatles guitarist George Harrison was charged with copyright infringement after allegedly taking the melody for his post-Beatles song “My Sweet Lord” from the Chiffons’ 1963 hit, “He’s So Fine.” The court rule against Harrison, despite his protestation that while he didn’t intentionally copy the song, he may have “subconsciously copied” the melody.

Whether or not Harrison was guilty, at least he had good taste.

What do you think?

Did Daughtry steal “Feel Like Tonight” from another band? Leave a comment and tell us what you think.