Mariah Carey has been sued for $20 million for claimed copyright infringement on her holiday smash hit ‘All I Want for Christmas Is You’, which was released almost three decades ago. The song, which appears on her album Merry Christmas, seems to have become a global classic and a strong favorite in the mainstream Christmas canon since its release in 1994.
The 53-year-old American singer is named in a complaint filed by songwriter Andy Stone, who claims that Carey along with her associates “knowingly, deliberately, and purposefully engaged in a campaign” to violate Stone’s copyright for the song.
Stone is described in the court document as a self-employed musician who makes a living by performing, distributing, and licensing his copyrighted works. Stone alleges that he co-wrote a track with the same name and did not offer permission for it to be used, according to legal filings filed in the US trial court for the eastern district of Orleans.
Lawsuit Against Mariah Carey
Andy Stone, a songwriter, has filed a complaint claiming that he co-wrote a song with a similar title five years ago. According to a complaint filed Thursday in federal district court in Orleans, Stone, who resides in Mississippi, is trying to seek at least $20 million in losses from Carey & her co-writer Walter Afanasieff, along with Sony Corporation of America and its branch Sony Music Entertainment, for copyright violation and misappropriation, among many other claims.
According to the lawsuit, Stone, better known as Vince Vance of the Orleans, co-wrote and produced his rendition of “All I Want for Christmas Is You” in 1989. During the 1993 Christmas time, the song garnered “heavy exposure” and “began making waves on the Billboard Pop Charts.” Then, in 1994, Carey’s version was released, causing significant damage to his song. He is seeking damages in the amount of $20 million. Carey and Afansieff, according to Stone, “consciously participated in a campaign to violate” his copyright on the material.
Although both songs have the same title, the melodies and lyrics are not the same and the other accused, according to the lawsuit, “never sought or acquired permission” to use, duplicate, or sell Stone’s song, which was a “copyrightable source material” prior to Carey’s 1994 distribution. Stone’s lawyers first notified Carey and the other defense attorneys in April of 2021 about the “unlicensed use of the song,” and after “not really being able to reach an agreement” about the usage, Stone personally requested a cease and desist, despite the fact that Carey and the other legal professionals “continue to exploit” his project, according to the court document.
Why Sue After Three Decades?
It’s been three decades since Carey’s song was released so why did he sue her now. Stone’s complaint was filed in federal court in the state of Louisiana. Stone did not say when he first heard Carey’s rendition of the song, which has been at No. 1 on Billboard’s Hot 100 songs chart for the past three years. Stone “got aware” of Carey’s “usage of his work” at some point, according to the lawsuit, and hired lawyers who approached the defendants in April of 2021.
It’s unclear whether Stone’s lawsuit will be successful. Copyright laws normally do not protect song titles, and it is common for many songs by various artists to share the same name. For example, the title “All I Want for Christmas is You” is used by hundreds of other songs and musical works in the public database of the United States Copyright Office. Aside from the names, Stone’s lawsuit claimed no other resemblance between his and Carey’s songs. Though conceptually similar, the words of both songs have only one line in common: “All I want for Christmas is you.”
Carey’s Song’s Popularity
Carey’s rendition of the song was released in 1994 and has since become a holiday classic on radio, streaming, and during the NBA’s yearly Christmas Day set of games. Since its release over three decades ago, “All I Want for Christmas is You” has made Carey well over $60 million in royalties, making it one of her most recognized, beloved, and critically praised successes. Despite being recorded a quarter-century ago, it has also dominated the Billboard Hot 100 chart each year since 2019.
Carey only had one more No. 1 song than The Beatles, with “All I Want for Christmas Is You.” It has earned Carey the title “Queen of Christmas.” Mariah Carey remembered her composition process for the hit in her 2020 autobiography, The Meaning of Mariah Carey, which she stated was not actually inspired by Christmas. According to Carey, she wrote the majority of the song on a cheap tiny Casio piano. But it’s the emotion she’d like the music to convey. She went on to say that it has sweetness, simplicity, and purity to it.
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