Mariah Careythe de facto “Queen of Christmas,” is being sued for alleged copyright infringement over “All I Want For Christmas Is You” by a country music songwriter. The songwriter in question is Andy Stone, who claims his 1989 song “All I Want For Christmas Is You” by Vince Vance & the Valiants has been infringed upon by Carey’s song of the same name. Carey’s record-breaking “All I Want For Christmas Is You” was released in 1994.
As reported by Deadline, Stone filed his suit on Friday, June 3, in the US District Court in the Eastern District of Louisiana. He has named both Carey and her cowriter, Walter Afanasieff, in the lawsuit and is seeking $20 million in damages. However, Pamela Koslyn, a Los Angeles attorney who specializes in intellectual property rights and music, explained to Deadline why Stone’s case is unlikely to go very far.
View this post on Instagram
First and foremost, there’s very little overlap between the lyrics of the songs, and the melodies are different. The only thing the two songs have in common is their titles — and song titles can’t be copyrighted. “Song titles aren’t entitled to copyright protection,” Koslyn told Deadline. “That’s why there are 177 works using the same title.”
