Mariah Carey is often associated with this time of year, specifically around Christmas, due to the popularity of her song, “All I Want For Christmas Is You.” Now, as it turns out, Andy Stone is suing her for as much as $20 million in damages over the song.
As shared via People, “Stone, who performs as Vince Vance and the Valiants, filed a civil lawsuit against Carey, co-writer Walter Afanasieff, and Sony Music Entertainment in the Central District of California on Tuesday, alleging ‘copyright infringement and unjust enrichment’ over a successful song — also titled ‘All I Want for Christmas Is You’ — he co-wrote in Nashville and released in 1989.” The “compositional structure” of his song, he claims, was used by Carey to create her own.
Interestingly, the publication adds that this isn’t the first time Stone has tried to sue Carey. In fact, he filed a similar lawsuit along with co-writer Troy Powers, who is currently a plaintiff on the current lawsuit, in Louisiana last year in June. It was later dropped just five months later.
Though Stone did not originate the title of the song, his lawyers note that his version “received radio play in 1993 and became a hit on Billboard’s Hot Country Singles & Tracks chart the following year, around the same time Carey’s now-classic festive anthem was released.” As such, Stone and his legal team claim that she “undoubtedly had access” to his song while writing her own Christmas classic “given its wide commercial and cultural success.”
“Defendants knew or should have known that ‘All I Want or Christmas is You’ could not be used in a musical work by Defendants without a license and/or songwriting credit, as is customary practice in the music industry,” reads the documents.
Now the plaintiffs want a jury trial in addition to the aforementioned $20 million in damage. As such, we’ll have to see how this trial progresses. Especially considering this isn’t the first time that Andy Stone has attempted to sue Mariah Carey over the song. Though it makes interesting timing with December around the corner.