Mariah Carey Is Being Sued Over “All I Want For Christmas”
Mariah Carey, the de facto queen of Christmas, is being sued for alleged copyright infringement over “All I Want For Christmas Is You” by a rustic music songwriter. The songwriter in question is Andy Stone who claims his 1989 track “All I Want For Christmas Is You” by Vince Vance & the Valiants has been infringed upon by Carey’s track of the identical title. Carey’s record-breaking “All I Want For Christmas Is You” was launched in 1994.
As reported by Deadline, Stone filed his swimsuit on Friday, June 3 within the U.S. District Court within the Eastern District of Louisiana. He has named each Carey and her co-writer Walter Afansieff within the lawsuit, and is searching for $20 million in damages. However, Pamela Koslyn, a Los Angeles legal professional who focuses on mental property rights and music defined to Deadline why Stone’s case is unlikely to go very far.
First and foremost, there’s little or no overlap between the lyrics of the songs, and the melodies are completely different. The solely factor the 2 songs have in widespread is their title — and track titles cannot be copyrighted. “Song titles aren’t entitled to copyright protection,” Koslyn advised Deadline. “That’s why there are 177 works using the same title.”
She went on to level out that Carey’s “My Baby” title is much more standard. The Copyright Office has greater than 4,860 works with the identical title. Ultimately, a track title alone cannot infringe on copyright regulation. For Stone to have a case, his lawyer must show Carey and Afansieff’s track infringed on his mental property in a significant approach.
This is particularly tough contemplating simply how little the 2 vacation songs have in widespread apart from a shared title. Stone’s model of “All I Want For Christmas Is You” is a gradual track which options vocals by Lisa Layne. In the track, she croons, “If I wrote a letter to Santa Claus/I would ask for just one thing/I don’t need sleigh rides in the snow/Don’t want a Christmas that’s blue/Take back the tinsel, stockings and bows/Cause all I want for Christmas is you.”
In distinction, Carey’s basic Christmas track is an upbeat pop anthem. “I don’t want a lot for Christmas/There is just one thing I need/Don’t care about the presents underneath the Christmas tree/I don’t need to hang my stocking there upon the fireplace/Santa Claus won’t make me happy with a toy on Christmas Day/I just want you for my own/More than you could ever know/Make my wish come true/All I want for Christmas is you,” the Grammy-winner sings.
Interestingly, even after Carey’s track was launched, Stone’s nation monitor continued to rank on Billboard’s Hot Country Song chart through the vacation season. The track was even covered by Kelly Clarkson in 2020, which suggests Stone and Carey’s same-titled vacation anthems have been coexisting for practically twenty years. Meanwhile, Carey’s “All I Want For Christmas” has made its solution to the highest of the Billboard Top 100 chart each year since 2019.
