Mariah Carey sues “All I Want For Christmas Is You”

• Songwriter Mariah Carey is suing for copyright infringement on “All I Want for Christmas Is You”.
• Songwriter, Andy Stone, says he released a song of the same name five years ago.
• Song titles are usually not protected by copyright laws.

A Mississippi songwriter is suing pop star Mariah Carey over the 1994 Christmas song, “All I Want For Christmas Is You,” saying he released a song of the same title five years ago, according to court records.

The songwriter, Andy Stone of the group Vince Vance and Valiant, claimed in a civil complaint that Carey and Sony Music Entertainment “did not request or obtain permission” from Stone to use the title. He also accused Carey and Sony Music Entertainment of “intentionally, deliberately and premeditatingly” infringing his business.

Stone filed his lawsuit in federal court in Louisiana. The complaint did not specify when Stone learned of Carey’s version of the song, which reappears every holiday season and has ranked #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart for the past three years.

The lawsuit said Stone “knew” at one point that Curry was using his “business” and retained attorneys who contacted the defendants in April 2021.

Sony Music Entertainment, which owns the record company that represented Carey at the time of the song’s release, did not immediately respond to Insider’s request for comment.

It is unclear how successful the litigation with Stone was. Song titles are usually not protected by copyright laws, and it is very common for multiple songs by different artists to share the name.

For example, the title “All I Want for Christmas is You” is shared by dozens of other songs and compositions included in General Catalog of the United States Copyright Office.

Stone’s lawsuit did not claim any other similarities between his songs and Carey’s songs other than the titles. Although both songs are similar in theme, they only share the nominal phrase, “All I want for Christmas is you.”

as such Dipanjali Rose reported from Insider Last year, “All I Want for Christmas Is You” is one of Carrie’s best-known, best-known, critically acclaimed hits, and has earned it more than $60 million in revenue since its launch nearly three decades ago.