June 05, (THEWILL) – Mariah Carey is being sued over her iconic hit holiday song All I Want For Christmas Is You.
Another artist, Andy Stone, filed the lawsuit against the five-time Grammy winner, claiming copyright infringement 28 years after she released the Christmas jingle in 1994.
Stone claims to have recorded a holiday-themed song, also titled All I Want For Christmas Is You, several years before Carey dropped her track.
Her version went on to top the charts in 26 countries and reportedly earn a whopping $60 million in royalties by 2017, according to The Economist.
In his lawsuit, Stone claims Carey and her legal team never sought or obtained permission to use the title, All I Want For Christmas Is You.
It’s not uncommon for musical artists to have similar, or in some cases, the same song title.
Copyright infringement suits are typically based on the sound and melodies of songs, And in this case, the sound of the two tracks and the melodies are different.
The only similarities between the two songs that are apparent are the titles.
Stone recorded his song, a country ballad, in Nashville in 1989 under the artist name, Vince Vance & The Valiants.
The track went on to chart on the Billboard Hot Country Songs on six separate occasions in the 1990s, and eventually had a music video to accompany it.
It would be about five years after Stone and his Vince Vance & The Valiants’ release that Carey dropped All I Want For Christmas Is You as the lead single to her fourth studio album Merry Christmas in 1994, along with her own music video.
Her version, which was co-written by Walter Afanasieff and proves to be more uptempo than Stone’s track, has since gone on to becomes a Christmas standard that seemingly surges in popularity each holiday season.
With sales of over 16 million copies worldwide, Carey’s All I Want for Christmas Is You is now the best-selling holiday song by a female artist, and one of the best-selling physical singles in music history.
About the Author
