Mariah Carey is being sued for her blockbuster holiday song “All I Want for Christmas Is You.”
Andy Stone, a songwriter, has filed a complaint alleging that he co-wrote a song with the identical title five years ago.
According to a complaint filed Friday in federal court in New Orleans, Stone, who lives in Mississippi, is seeking at least $20 million in damages from Carey and her co-writer Walter Afanasieff, as well as Sony Corporation of America and its subsidiary Sony Music Entertainment, for copyright infringement and misappropriation, among other claims.
According to the complaint, Stone, better known as Vince Vance of the New Orleans country-pop band Vince Vance & the Valiants, co-wrote and recorded his version of “All I Want for Christmas Is You” in 1989. During the 1993 Christmas season, the song garnered “heavy exposure” and “began making appearances on the Billboard Music Charts.”
Carey’s song was included in her “Merry Christmas” album, which was released in 1994. The song has long been played on the radio and on streaming sites, especially during the holiday season, thereby making it the quintessential Christmas anthem.
Despite being recorded a quarter-century ago, it has also topped the Billboard Hot 100 chart every year since 2019. Carey only had one more No. 1 song than The Beatles, with “All I Want for Christmas Is You.”
Both songs have the same title, but the words and melodies are different.
Carey and the other defendants, according to the lawsuit, “never sought or acquired permission” to use, duplicate, or distribute Stone’s song, which was a “copyrightable subject matter” prior to Carey’s 1994 release.
Stone’s attorneys did not reply to demands for comment right away.
Sony and Afanasieff, as well as Carey’s reps, did not respond to requests for comment right away.
