Mariah Carey sued for $20M over ‘All I Want for Christmas is You’
NEW ORLEANS - It seems that one of America’s favorite Christmas songs has now landed singer Mariah Carey in a legal battle with a man claiming to be the writer of the lyrics.
Carey is being sued by Andy Stone, who claimed to have co-written Carey’s hit "All I Want for Christmas is You" in 1989 and recorded it at the Masterphonics Studio 6 in Nashville, Tennessee.
Stone, whose stage name is "Vince Vance," filed a complaint against Carey, Walter Afanasieff and Sony Music Entertainment in the U.S. District Court of Eastern District of Louisiana Friday.
According to court documents obtained by FOX Television Stations, Stone said Carey and her team never sought permission to use the song "in creating, reproducing, recording, distributing, selling, or publicly performing."
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Stone is suing for copyright infringement, unjust enrichment and misappropriation and violation of the Lanham Act, which governs trademarks.
Stone is seeking at least $20 million in damages.
Neither representatives for Carey nor Sony responded to a request for comment by FOX Television Stations.
Carey first released the song in 1994 as part of her holiday album, but the record didn’t become a number-one hit in the U.S. until 2019. The song details how Carey longs to be with her loved one for the holiday.
"It was kind of an accident," Carey previously told the L.A. Times about writing the song. "When I did that first Christmas album, ‘Merry Christmas,‘ it was pretty early in my career."
"But in this case, I was just sitting there, coming up with this melody, in a dark house with a Christmas tree," Carey said. She collaborated with record producer Walter Afanasieff to add the vocals and instruments.
Carey said the song is a testament to how much she truly cherishes Christmas.
"No matter what’s happening in the world, Christmas will never be canceled at my house," she said.
This story was reported from Los Angeles.