Every year, Mariah Carey earns millions in royalties with »All I Want for Christmas is You«
Photo: Jason Szenes/ dpa
The holiday season includes speculation, Christmas markets and now, apparently, lawsuits against Mariah Carey. Carey, Sony Music and the co-writer of "All I Want for Christmas is You" Walter Afanasieff were sued last year by songwriter Andy Stone in a $20 million copyright infringement lawsuit. Stone alleged that the defendants had recorded a "derivative version" of Stone's 1989 song of the same name, which was released under the stage name Vince Vance and the Valiants. Stone's lawyers voluntarily dropped the lawsuit in November last year. But now, according to TMZ, Stone is trying again. Together with his co-songwriter Troy Powers, he is again demanding at least 20 million dollars in damages from Carey.
According to »TMZ«, the complaint, which is available to the celebrity portal, is almost identical to last year's lawsuit. Stone and Powers claimed that there were significant similarities between their 1989 song and Carey's 1994 hit – in lyrics, melody and overall feel. They accused Carey of copying the song "as if it were their own."
Stone argued to "Variety" that the co-songwriters must have known about his 1989 song because it was "played extensively on the radio" during the 1993 Christmas season.
Last year, Rolling Stone said the success of the lawsuit was unlikely, as there are currently 177 copyrighted songs titled "All I Want for Christmas Is You."
Mariah Carey did not comment on the past lawsuit, nor on the current one. Her hit "All I Want For Christmas Is You" earns Carey millions in royalties every year, as Forbes reported, making it one of the most successful Christmas songs of all time. According to Guinness World Records, "All I Want for Christmas is You" is also the best-selling Christmas single by a solo artist in the United States. Released in 1994, the song also ends up in the music charts in dozens of other countries year after year.
czl