Mariah Carey has emerged victorious in a copyright lawsuit over her iconic holiday hit, All I Want for Christmas Is You, after a U.S. District Judge ruled that the song did not infringe upon a similarly titled 1989 track by Vince Vance & the Valiants.
The lawsuit, filed by songwriters Andy Stone and Troy Powers in 2023, sought $20 million in damages, alleging that Carey’s song bore similarities to their track of the same name.
However, Judge Monica Almadani dismissed the case, determining that the songs were not substantially similar enough to warrant a copyright claim.
The court’s decision was supported by expert testimony from a musicologist, who concluded that any similarities between the songs consisted of common Christmas-themed elements found in numerous holiday tracks.
Carey’s legal team reinforced this argument, stating that the phrases and melodies in question were standard across holiday music traditions.
Additionally, Judge Almadani ordered Stone and Powers to pay a portion of Carey’s legal fees, citing their conduct during the case as having unnecessarily prolonged proceedings and increased litigation costs.
This is not the first time All I Want for Christmas Is You has faced legal scrutiny. Stone previously sued Carey in 2022, claiming that his song had gained widespread airplay in the early 1990s before Carey’s track was released in 1994. However, that case was also dismissed.
Carey’s All I Want for Christmas Is You remains one of the most successful holiday songs of all time.
The track has topped the Billboard Hot 100 chart for six consecutive years during the holiday season and generated an estimated $8.5 million in revenue in 2022 alone.
