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A federal judge has dismissed a copyright lawsuit against Mariah Carey and her Christmas hit, “All I Want For Christmas (Is You).”
In June 2022, country singer Vince Vance (real name Andy Stone) filed a $20 million lawsuit against Carey. He later withdrew the lawsuit without prejudice. In November 2023, Vance re-filed the lawsuit along with co-writer Troy Powers. They alleged that their 1989 song of the same title was copied by Carey’s Christmas hit.
Both Vance and Powers argued that Carey had access to their song due to ‘extensive airplay’ in 1993 and a White House performance in 1994. The lawsuit claims that Carey’s song shared a ‘unique linguistic structure’ and musical elements with the Vance composition.
Judge Mónica Ramírez Almadani rejected those allegations, citing evidence from a musicologist that the songs’ only shared aspect are “commonplace Christmas song cliches.” That’s an argument Carey’s attorneys made when arguing the case, stating that Vance’s language use was found in “legions of Christmas songs.”
New York University professor Lawrence Ferrara testified that he found at least 19 songs that incorporated the same lyrical ideas and were released before Vance’s track. Judge Almadani said that the plaintiffs did not meet their burden of proof to show that Carey’s song and Vance’s song were “substantially similar under the extrinsic test.” She also called Vance and his lawyers’ conduct egregious and said they caused unnecessary delay and needlessly increased the cost of litigation.
Vance was ordered to repay Carey’s legal bills incurred while defending the case. Carey’s iconic Christmas song is a big earner for her year after year. While yearly totals differ, estimates put her earnings from royalties between $2.5 million and $3.3 million each year. Over its lifetime, the song has reportedly generated over $103 million from global streaming and other revenue sources. Carey has embraced her role as the ‘Queen of Christmas’ and has offered holiday-themed merchandise and last year an Apple Music Christmas special.
Content shared from www.digitalmusicnews.com.