Judge says she is “inclined” to dismiss Mariah Carey ‘All I Want For Christmas Is You’ lawsuit
A judge has said she is inclined to dismiss a copyright lawsuit brought against Mariah Carey over her festive hit ‘All I Want For Christmas Is You’.
Country singer Andy Stone – who performs under the stage name Vince Vance – filed a complaint last November in a Los Angeles federal court, alleging that Carey’s Christmas hit infringed the copyright of his 1989 song under the same name. He made the same claims in a lawsuit that was dropped in 2022.
“If you look at both songs, you can see that about 50 per cent of the words are the same, in almost the same order. I think it’s a pretty strong claim,” the plaintiff’s lawyer, Douglas M. Schmidt, previously said.
He added that attempts to settle the case with Carey, her co-songwriter Walter Afanasieff and Sony ended without a resolution.
But in August this year, Carey’s legal team requested the lawsuit be dropped, noting that Vance’s claims fail the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeal’s “extrinsic test for substantial similarity in protectable expression” – essentially arguing that any similarities between the two songs are coincidental.
Now, US District Court Judge Mónica Ramírez Almadani has said she is “inclined” to throw the case out and stated she is “seriously considering” granting a related motion filed by Carey’s team requesting sanctions against the plaintiffs for what is alleged to be a “frivolous” filing, reports Rolling Stone.
Stone’s lawyer Gerald P. Fox argued that it is “not required” they show the song is “identical” or “virtual plagiarism”, but rather that only “a certain arrangement of notes has to be unique, or the melody, or any aspect of the composition that’s copied or similar”.
But Carey’s lawyer, Peter Anderson, hit back and said that the similarities that have been identified by musicologists hired by the plaintiffs amount to phrases such as “Santa Claus” and “mistletoe” – lyrics which Carey’s team have claimed are public domain.
“These are random similarities. Five or so Christmas tropes that make these Christmas songs,” Anderson added. “Importantly, there are eight or nine other Christmas tropes in their work that don’t appear in ours. And eight or nine in ours that don’t appear in theirs.”
Judge Almadani is yet to issue a ruling on the case, and has not indicated when a ruling is expected.
Back in 2020, Carey’s ‘All I Want For Christmas Is You’ became a UK Number One for the first time ever, 26 years after it was first released.
This year, the seasonal classic turned 30-years-old. During that time, it has become the first holiday song to stream over one billion times on Spotify and topped the Billboard Hot 100 numerous times since its release, holding the record for most weeks at Number One for a Christmas song.
To celebrate the song’s lasting legacy, Carey is currently on the ‘Christmas Time’ tour – for a run of shows in North America for the rest of the year. Fans can find any available tickets here.
She will also release a 30th anniversary reissue of ‘Merry Christmas’ this December, including alternative artwork that she recently unveiled to fans on her Instagram.
Last week, Carey marked the start of the festive period, transforming from Morticia Addams into Mrs Claus in a new social media video.
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Damian Jones
NME
