Mariah Carey sued over copyright claims of ‘All I Want for Christmas is You’
Nov 6, 2023, 3:24 PM | Updated: 3:26 pm
Mariah Carey performs during the 2019 Billboard Music Awards at MGM Grand Garden Arena on May 1, 2019 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by Ethan Miller/Getty Images)
(Photo by Ethan Miller/Getty Images)
Mariah Carey is facing a copyright lawsuit over her Christmas hit, “All I Want for Christmas Is You,” just ahead of the holiday season.
According to NBC News, Andy Stone, a country singer for Vince Vance & the Valiants, filed the lawsuit in California district court Wednesday.
Stone and Troy Powers claim Carey copied their song, “All I Want for Christmas is You” which Powers and Stone co-wrote in 1988. The song was recorded and released the next year in 1989.
The lawsuit also names Sony Music and Universal Music Group as well as the co-creator of Carey’s hit, Walter Afanasieff.
The suit claims that Carey copied the “compositional structure of an extended comparison between a loved one and trappings of seasonal luxury, and further includes several of Plaintiffs’ lyrical phrases.”
Lawyers representing Carey, Afanasieff, Sony, and Universal Music Group did not immediately respond to NBC for comment.
The plaintiffs are requesting at least $20 million in damages, alleging the success of Carey’s Christmas hit stems from their original idea.
Vince Vance & the Valiants is an American country pop, rock and roll, and novelty musical group from New Orleans, Louisiana. Stone represents the character Vince Vance and is the only permanent member of the band.
Carey’s “All I Want for Christmas is You,” which was released in 1994, has topped the Billboard Hot 100 Songs every year since 2019.
The song has become an iconic Christmas hit, and most recently was used in a post by Carey on Nov. 1.
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Stone withdrew a similar lawsuit about the same songs in Louisiana, court records show.
