Mariah Carey has won a legal battle in Los Angeles federal court, with a judge ruling that her hit song “All I Want for Christmas Is You” is not a copy of other songwriters’ work.
Judge Mónica Ramírez Almadani ruled in favor of Carey and her co-writer Walter Afanasieff on Wednesday, granting their request for summary judgment and avoiding a trial.
The lawsuit, filed in 2023 by Andy Stone (stage name Vince Vance) of Louisiana and Troy Powers of Tennessee, claimed that Carey’s 1994 holiday song, a popular and frequently streamed track, infringed on the copyright of their 1989 country song with the same name. They sought $20 million in damages.
Gerard P. Fox, the lawyer for Stone and Powers, expressed his “disappointment” in an email to The Associated Press.
Fox stated that, in his experience, judges at this level “nearly always now dismiss a music copyright case,” requiring an appeal to reverse the decision and present the case to a jury. He added that his client will soon decide whether to appeal, stating the suit was based on the opinions of two respected musicologists from prominent colleges.
Stone and Powers argued that their song’s “’All I Want For Christmas Is You’ contains a unique linguistic structure where a person, disillusioned with expensive gifts and seasonal comforts, wants to be with their loved one, and accordingly writes a letter to Santa Claus.”
They claimed there was a high probability that Carey and Afanasieff had heard their song, which reached No. 31 on Billboard’s Hot Country chart, and that they infringed upon its copyright by using significant elements from it.
After considering expert testimony from both sides, Judge Ramírez Almadani sided with the defense. Their experts argued that both songs used common Christmas themes that predated both works, and that Carey’s song used them in a different manner. The judge concluded that the plaintiffs failed to prove substantial similarity between the songs.
Judge Ramírez Almadani also imposed sanctions against the plaintiffs and their lawyers, deeming their lawsuit and subsequent filings frivolous. She stated that the plaintiffs’ attorneys “made no reasonable effort to ensure that the factual contentions asserted have evidentiary support.”
She ordered them to cover at least a portion of the defendants’ legal fees.
Neither Carey’s defense attorneys nor her publicists immediately responded to requests for comment.
Carey’s “All I Want for Christmas Is You” has become even more successful in recent years, surpassing its popularity in the 1990s. It has topped Billboard’s Hot 100 chart for the past six consecutive years, measuring the most popular songs each week based on airplay, sales, and streaming, not limited to holiday music.
Carey and Afanasieff have previously had a public disagreement, although not a legal one, regarding their respective contributions to the song’s creation. However, this lawsuit has made them temporary allies.
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