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Wah.

On July 2, Tommy Dunbar, the former guitarist for the ’70s Bay Area power-pop band The Rubinoos, filed a lawsuit against Avril Lavigne in federal district court. Dunbar’s lawsuit alleges that Lavigne’s recent hit, “Girlfriend,” bears legally actionable similarity to the Rubinoos’ 1978 song, “I Wanna Be Your Boyfriend.” Whether it meets standards for plagiarism is completely up for grabs, since the courts have affirmed cases that were far less airtight than “‘Boyfriend v. ‘Girlfriend.’”

Just to do a side-by-side comparison, I created a “‘Boyfriend v. ‘Girlfriend’” playlist in iTunes, copied the songs several times and played these two annoying and annoyingly similar tracks until I craved the sweet relief of a hard-drive failure. I am not a copyright lawyer, but I would play one on TV if given the opportunity. Plus, I’ve been obsessed with pop plagiarism since the case of “Bright Tunes Music v. Harrisongs Music,” which determined that George Harrison had subconsciously lifted the melody to “My Sweet Lord” from The Chiffons’ “He’s So Fine.”

I also personally enjoyed it when Huey Lewis raked Ray Parker Jr. over the coals for his appropriation of “I Want a New Drug” for the “Ghostbusters” theme. Given how irredeemably lame both songs are, it is hard to see how anybody really wins in that case. It is one thing to steal something brilliant, but co-opting “I Want a New Drug” for “Ghostbusters” is a little like trading in a Ford Pinto to buy an AMC Pacer.

So, I listened, then I listened some more before slamming the headphones on my desk and reaching the following conclusion: On its face, the only prominent similarity in “‘Boyfriend v. ‘Girlfriend’” comes during the choruses for the two songs. Rubinoos singer Jon Rubin sings “Hey (hey) you (you), I wanna be your boyfriend,” while Lavigne sings “Hey (hey) you (you) I don’t like your girlfriend.” They also feature the same handclapping rhythm, but I doubt that any judge would seriously have stadium pep-rally clapping entered into evidence.

Beyond that single repeated line, the melodies bear little similarity. One is a stomping mall-punk anthem, while the other is a power-pop relic that would have sounded great on the “Fast Times at Ridgemont High” sound track. But that one similarity might just be enough.Consider the case of “Three Boys Music v. Michael Bolton,” which is analyzed extensively by Columbia Law School’s Music Plagiarism Project. This was the court battle in which The Isley Brothers brought suit against fake soul provider Michael Bolton for appropriating the Isleys’ “Love Is a Wonderful Thing” for his 1991 hit, “Love Is a Wonderful Thing.”

Columbia Law School features a side-by-side comparison between the two songs. There is a slight similarity in how both titles are sung, but as much as I don’t want to side with Bolton on anything, the tracks’ only commonality comes during the title refrain. Despite this, the Isleys won, and the case was upheld on appeal.It’s entirely possible that Lavigne has never heard The Rubinoos song. Until a few years ago, she professed to have not heard of David Bowie and seemed incapable of pronouncing his name correctly.

 On the other hand, her co-writer on “Girlfriend,” Lukasz “Dr. Luke” Gottwald, spent a decade as the guitarist for the “Saturday Night Live” band. That guy knows rock music, but again, we’re talking about a 30-year-old song released on an independent label by a band that is mildly semifamous for sounding a lot like The Raspberries. But as her Canadian label head told Billboard, artists carry coverage for these kind of things. “Avril has insurance that covers off cq these sort of suits that are so prevalent in this business,” Terry McBride, chief executive officer of Nett-werk Music Group, told the magazine.

In that case, I suppose Lavigne can splurge. Aging power-pop guys should iron their skinny ties for future court dates.