Billboard reports Chantal Kreviazuk has issued the following statement on Tuesday (July 10): “I would like to apologize for any misconceptions concerning Avril Lavigne, which may have resulted from statements I made in my interview with Performing Songwriter Magazine. It was not my intention to call Avril’s songwriting ability or ethics into question. 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 are retracted. Avril is an accomplished songwriter and it has been my privilege to work with her.”

Avril Lavigne posted the following message to fans on her blog at Myspace on Friday (July 6):

To My Dear Media, Friends, and Fans

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.
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The Toronto Star reports Avril Lavigne is being sued by U.S. songwriters Tommy Dunbar and James Gangwer, who claim that her smash hit ‘Girlfriend’ sounds suspiciously like the Rubinoos single they released in the 1970s - ‘I Wanna Be Your Boyfriend’ (as popdirt noted back in April). “Avril’s very, very sensible,” Avril’s manager Terry McBride said. “She knows music well. If the chords had been similar, the melodies had been similar, lyrics had been similar, the metre, she would have gone, ‘OK, I can see their point.’ But nothing’s similar.” McBride also responded to Chantal Kreviazuk’s claim that Lavigne stole her song ‘Contagious’, saying that Kreviazuk had never even heard the Lavigne track and retracted her statement. “I know, personally, she regrets saying what she said,” said McBride, adding the songs are nothing alike. “The interviewer obviously got Chantal on a bad day.” Read more.

Performing Songwriter magazine caught up with Chantal Kreviazuk for a Q&A, where they mentioned to the singer they had just did an article with fellow Canadian Avril Lavigne, with whom Chantal had written with. “I find it funny that it’s in Performing Songwriter,” Kreviazuk said, referring to Avril even being in the magazine. “I mean, Avril, songwriter? Avril doesn’t really sit down and write songs by herself or anything. Avril will cross the ethical line and no one says anything. That’s why I’ll never work with her again. I sent her a song two years ago called ‘Contagious’, and I just saw the tracklisting to this album ['The Best Damn Thing'] and there’s a song called ‘Contagious’ on it - and my names not on it. What do you do with that?” Lavigne had earlier encountered songwriting controversy when the Matrix took credit for all the songwriting on her debut ‘Let Go’, upsetting Avril to the point she’s never worked with the hitmakers since. A scan of the article at the mag’s web site, performingsongwriter.com, has since been removed.