Singer and songwriter Andy Stone has filed a lawsuit against Mariah Carey, her co-writer Walter Afansieff and Sony Music Entertainment after claiming that he co-wrote a song with the same name before Carey released her major hit with the same name five years later. The case is filed in New Orleans.
Mariah Carey Slapped With $20 Million Lawsuit Over 'All I Want For Christmas Is You'
By
Samantha in
Entertainment
On 5th June 2022
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A songwriter has filed a $20 million (£16 million) lawsuit against Mariah Carey for her 1994 hit All I Want For Christmas Is You.
Singer and songwriter Andy Stone state that he wrote the song with the same name five years before Carey released her own and now has filed a lawsuit against her in New Orleans.
Stone is suing not only Carey but also her co-writer Walter Afansieff and Sony Music Entertainment for several claims, including copyright infringement and misappropriation.
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The songwriter has accused Carey and her team of exploiting his ‘popularity and unique style’ and causing confusion to fans after releasing the 1994 chart-topper.
However, even though both songs share the line 'all I want for Christmas is you' they are completely different and do not share the same melodies or lyrics.
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According to court documents, Stone accuses Carey and Afansieff of 'knowingly, wilfully, and intentionally engaging in a campaign' to infringe his copyright of the song.
The court documents also state that the duo carried out 'acts of unjust enrichment by the unauthorised appropriation of plaintiff's work and goodwill associated therewith'.
The songwriter also claims that he never gave permission for his song to be used for any purpose including the ‘creation of derivative work’.
It is yet to be established if Stone filed the lawsuit recently or not, as Carey had given her major hit some 28 years ago.
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The court papers detail that Stone’s lawyers contacted Carey and the other co-defendants last year but were ‘unable to come to any agreement’.
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Stone, who performs as Vince Vance in a country-pop band called Vince Vance & the Valiants, says his identically-named track had ‘extensive airplay’ during the festive season in 1993 and even appeared on the Billboard charts.
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The song enjoys huge popularity and joined the Billboard Hot 100 in December of every year since 2019, and boasted its first-ever number one in the UK in 2020.
It is estimated that the song made $60 million (£44.5m) in royalties since its release, and making Carey more than $2 million (£1,601,474) every single year.
Stone’s case comes only a few months after Ed Sheeran won a high court case over claims that the singer ripped off another song for his 2017 hit Shape Of You.
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