Twice within the last few months, Avril Lavigne has been publicly accused of musical plagiarism; allegedly, she stole melodies, rhythm, and lyrical content from other bands' songs in her new album, The Best Damn Thing.
According to copyright law, musicians who accuse others of stealing their work must prove "access"the alleged plagiarizer must have heard the song he's said to have ripped offand "similarity"the songs must share unique musical components. The nebulous definition of "similarity" means that even top legal scholars disagree about when plagiarism has occurred. "There's no right answer as to how similar a similarity has to be," Michael Meuer, a professor of intellectual property law at Boston University, tells Gelf.
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