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Singer, songwriter and record producer Mariah Carey has been sued for copyright infringement on her 1994 holiday classic “All I Want For Christmas Is You.”
A songwriter has filed a lawsuit against Carey in New Orleans federal court, claiming that he co-wrote a 1990 song with an identical title as the icon’s unforgettable tune.
Stone, a frontman of country-pop band Vince Vance & the Valiants, demands at least $20 million in damages. In the lawsuit, he named Carey, his co-writer, and Sony Music Entertainment, saying they illegally used his “popularity and unique style.”
The songwriter revealed that his single ranked on Billboard and reached “extensive airplay” in 1993. He also claims to have tried to reach a settlement with Carey and other co-defendants in April 2021 and failed.
In 2019, Carey’s Christmas classic ranked No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 for the first time and went up and down on the list every year.
In 2019, Carey said in an interview with EW that it’s her pride that the song has been dominating the holiday season.
“When it first came out, it was more of a gradual thing,” stated Carey. “It was popular, but it didn’t have what it has now. I feel like people have grown up with the song, and it’s become a part of people’s lives in terms of the way they celebrate the holidays. That makes me feel really proud as someone that loves Christmas so much.”
A small detail that Carey does not want to talk about is the years that have gone by since the song’s release.
“I rebuke time,” she stated. “I have a thing where I just live outside the traditional realm of how we measure [it]. So, in that way, Santa and myself are very similar.”
Carey is not the only artist who faced lawsuits this year. Dua Lipa was sued in March by Artikal Sound System, a group from Florida, for the obvious similarities between her 2020 hit song “Levitating” and their 2017 track “Live Your Life.”
