Mariah Carey has been accused of stealing the title of her iconic Christmas hit by another songwriter in a $20M copyright lawsuit.
Songwriter Andy Stone has filed a copyright infringement lawsuit against pop icon Mariah Carey over her legendary 1994 hit, All I Want For Christmas Is You.
Having written and released a track with the same title in 1989 with his group, Vince Vance & The Valiants, the Louisiana musician claims Mariah did not ask for permission to use the song name, and is seeking a minimum of $20 million in damages.
Despite the tunes sounding nothing alike, Stone claims to have copyright ownership over the track title and alleges Mariah and her co-writer Walter Afansieff stole it without filing for the rights.
Legal documents acquired by PA Media claim that the duo “knowingly, wilfully, and intentionally engaged in a campaign” to breach Andy’s copyright for the song. They also state that they committed “acts of unjust enrichment by the unauthorised appropriation of plaintiff’s work and the goodwill associated therewith.”
Being Mariah Carey’s most successful song to date, the globally-recognisable holiday hit has accelerated to the top of Billboard’s Hot 100 chart every Christmas season since 2019. It’s also the first song in Billboard’s history to ever lead in three distinct runs on the ranking.
Released five years prior, All I Want For Christmas Is You by Vince Vance & The Valiants scored its first placement on the Billboard Hot Country Singles & Tracks chart in 1994. It continued placing until its final appearance in 2002, when the track reached its peak at No. 23 on the Billboard Hot 100 Recurrent Airplay chart.
2022 has been a rough year for songwriters. Over the last few months, there’s been no shortage of copyright infringement lawsuits over recent hits. However, with the launch of Mariah’s record-breaking tune being nearly 30 years ago, the question on many people’s lips is…why now??
Well, it seems we’ll just have to stay tuned for an answer. Despite media pressure, both Stone’s and Mariah’s attorneys have decided to remain tight-lipped about the whole situation. But we’ll be keeping our eyes peeled for updates!
