Twenty-three-year-old “Complicated” singer Avril Lavigne has settled a dispute with songwriters Tommy Dunbar and James Gangwer, who accused the Canadian singer last year of ripping off a track by their former outfit, the Rubinoos.

The pair believed that their 1979 single “I Wanna Be Your Boyfriend” was used by Lavigne and her co-writers as the basis for the star’s recent hit single, ‘Girlfriend” – but withdrew their complaints this week, settling the copyright infringement lawsuit.

On Tuesday 15 January, Lavigne’s record company, Nettwerk, issued a statement from the pair, which cleared Lavigne of any wrong-doing.

“We are satisfied that any similarities between the two songs resulted from Avril’s use of certain common and widely used lyrics,” they said.