Copyright-Infringement Case Against Mariah Carey, Dropped

Variety.com: A $20 million copyright-infringement case filed by a Mississippi songwriter against Mariah Carey her songwriting partner on the 1994 holiday classic and recurring chart-topper “All I Want for Christmas Is You” has been dropped.

Andy Stone initially filed the lawsuit against Carey and her co-writer Walter Afanasieff in June but pulled his claim against Carey on Tuesday. Stone was seeking damages of no less than $20 million for alleged copyright infringement pertaining solely to the song’s matching titles, according to a report by Rolling Stone.

In his original lawsuit, Stone said he recorded and released a song titled ‘All I Want For Christmas Is You’ under the moniker Vince Vance And The Valiants in 1989. His accusation called out the artist and her co-writer for willfully infringing his copyright of the song (he claimed they had made a “derivative” version of his song) and unjustly profiting from the track ever since. He also argued that the co-songwriters were aware of Stone’s 1989 track because it had “extensive airplay” during the 1993 Christmas season.

The suit also involved Sony Music, which released “All I Want for Christmas is You” on Columbia Records, as a co-defendant in the suit, along with Sony Corp. of America.

Contacted by Variety, reps for Sony Music and Carey either declined or did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Stone’s attorneys voluntarily dismissed the case, meaning the plaintiff can refile the suit in the future, but as Rolling Stone points out: Stone is unlikely to receive the $20 million-dollar prize he was bargaining for on the count that there are currently 177 copyrighted songs with the title ‘All I Want for Christmas Is You.’