Mariah Carey just received some belated holiday vindication. A federal judge in Los Angeles has dismissed a $20 million copyright lawsuit that accused Carey of stealing her perennial hit “All I Want for Christmas Is You” from a lesser-known song of the same name. The suit was brought by country artist Vince Vance (real name Andy Stone), who claimed that Mariah’s 1994 Christmas classic infringed upon an original Yuletide tune he released in 1988 with his band Vince Vance & the Valiants. After weighing the evidence – and the songs themselves – the court decisively ruled in Mariah’s favor, ensuring her modern carol remains hers alone.
In her decision, Judge Mónica Ramírez Almadani found that the two songs shared nothing beyond generic “commonplace Christmas song clichés” and themes that have long been in the public domain. A musicologist’s analysis determined that at least 19 earlier holiday songs featured similar lyrical ideas before Vance’s version came along, undercutting the plaintiffs’ argument that their composition was uniquely copied. The judge concluded that the plaintiffs “have not met their burden of showing” that Carey’s and Vance’s songs are substantially similar, failing the legal standard for infringement. Furthermore, Judge Almadani didn’t mince words about the lawsuit’s conduct – slamming Vince Vance and his lawyers’ tactics as “egregious,” causing unnecessary delays and needless legal costs with incoherent filings.
As a result of the dismissal, Mariah Carey and her co-writer/producer Walter Afanasieff won’t have to face a trial, and the judge ordered the plaintiffs to reimburse Carey’s legal fees from defending the case. It’s a sweeping victory for the pop superstar, who had steadfastly denied any copying. The lawsuit itself had raised eyebrows in the music industry, given that song titles cannot be copyrighted and the concept of longing for love at Christmas is prevalent in many tunes. Carey’s attorneys pointed out that the idea of eschewing presents in favor of a loved one is a common trope, not proprietary to anyone. Now the court has firmly agreed.
“All I Want for Christmas Is You” remains an undisputed champion of holiday music. Since its release on Carey’s 1994 Merry Christmas album, the track has become a record-breaking seasonal hit, returning to No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 for six consecutive years in the streaming era. The song has reportedly earned over $80 million in royalties to date (including a whopping $8.5 million globally in 2022 alone). With this legal cloud lifted, Mariah can continue to herald the holidays – lawsuit-free – and fans can enjoy the Queen of Christmas’s anthem without hesitation.
