American pop singer and celebrity, Mariah Carey, is being sued in connection with her holiday smash tune “All I Want for Christmas Is You.” The case was filed by songwriter Andy Stone, who claims he co-wrote a song with the same title five years ago. Andy Stone is better known as Vince Vance, of the band Vince Vance & the Valiants.
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According to a complaint filed on Friday in federal court in New Orleans, Stone, who lives in Mississippi, is suing Carey and her co-writer Walter Afanasieff, Sony Corporation of America, and Sony Music Entertainment, for at least $20 million for copyright infringement and misappropriation claims, among others.
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Court records say that Vance is a self-employed artist who co-wrote and recorded the song “All I Want for Christmas is You” at a Nashville studio in 1989. Later, it was released and had substantial airplay throughout the 1993 Christmas season, and began making appearances on the Billboard Music Charts.
Carey’s song with the same name but different lyrics and music was published on her album “Merry Christmas” in 1994. The lawsuit claims that Carey and the other defendants “never sought or secured permission” from Vance to use, duplicate, or distribute the music, and accuses them of copyright infringement.
The song has become a Christmas classic and a staple of the holiday charts each year, so it is unclear why the case has taken so long to be filed.
According to court filings, Vance’s lawyers first contacted the celebrity and others in April 2021 and then followed up with a letter in December. Even after conveying the concerns with Defendants, Plaintiff was unable to reach an agreement regarding the use of the ‘All I Want for Christmas is You,’ the claim stated.
Carey, also referred to as Songbird Supreme, famed for successes including “Fantasy” and “Hero,” was admitted into the Composers Hall of Fame this year, which described her as part of “an elite group of songwriters” and revealed that she had “written or co-authored 18 of her 19 number-one singles on the Billboard Hot 100.”
“All I Want for Christmas Is You” by the celebrity Queen of Christmas is still a huge hit, having been streamed over 1 billion times on the music streaming service Spotify, and for some, it marks the unofficial start of the Christmas season. Others argue that it has become overplayed and unpleasant.
