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Mariah Carey to Get a Favorable Verdict in All I Want for Christmas Copyright Lawsuit? Here's What the Judge Thinks
A California judge has shown strong signs of siding with Mariah Carey in lawsuit filed by Mississippi artist Vince Vance, who claims that All I Want for Christmas Is You infringes upon his 1989 song.
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California Judge Mónica Ramírez Almadani is inclined to dismiss Mariah Carey’s copyright lawsuit
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The lawsuit, originally filed in 2022 by Mississippi artist Vince Vance, was refiled in 2023
A California judge has shown strong signs of siding with Mariah Carey in the ongoing legal dispute over her holiday hit All I Want for Christmas Is You.
The lawsuit, first filed in 2022 by Mississippi artist Vince Vance, has seen new developments as Carey’s legal team pushes to have the case dismissed. Judge Mónica Ramírez Almadani has shown that she is inclined to grant Carey’s request to dismiss the lawsuit, with a ruling still pending.
The legal saga began in the summer of 2022 when Vince Vance, whose real name is Andy Stone, filed a lawsuit claiming that Carey’s 1994 Christmas song infringed upon his own track, which shares the same title.
Vance had initially sought $20 million in damages. However, in November 2022, he dropped the case, only to refile the lawsuit a year later with additional claims and more detail, including the addition of co-plaintiff Troy Powers, who co-wrote Vance’s original 1989 song.
In the renewed legal filing, Vance’s lawyers argued that Carey had palmed off his work as her own, accusing her of creating an incredulous origin story. They called it a clear case of copyright infringement, claiming that Carey had copied substantial elements of Vance’s original song.
The case has drawn significant attention, particularly as it comes during the holiday season when Carey’s song sees its annual resurgence on music charts. In August 2024, Carey’s legal team requested that the lawsuit be dismissed.
The defense argued that Vance’s claims did not meet the legal threshold for copyright infringement, specifically failing the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeal’s extrinsic test for substantial similarity.
This test is used to determine whether two works are substantially similar in protectable expression, essentially arguing that any overlap in melody or lyrics was purely coincidental.
Judge Almadani has shared that she is inclined to grant Carey’s request for dismissal, a move that would end the legal battle. Additionally, the judge has indicated that she is seriously considering granting a motion from Carey’s team to impose sanctions on the plaintiffs for what they argue is a frivolous lawsuit.
Vance’s legal team contends that Carey’s song is a greater than 50% clone of their 1989 track, citing similarities in both the lyrics and musical elements.
The lawsuit states what they call a unique linguistic structure and other specific features of the composition. Despite these claims, Carey’s legal team argues that the identified similarities are not substantial enough to warrant a copyright claim.
Peter Anderson, Carey’s lawyer, countered by noting that the similarities pointed out by musicologists, such as the inclusion of the phrases Santa Claus and mistletoe, are common Christmas tropes that are in the public domain.
Anderson argued that these are random, widely used phrases, with Carey’s team pointing out that there are other Christmas elements in their song that do not appear in Vance’s version.
First released in October 1994 as the lead single from Carey’s Merry Christmas album, All I Want for Christmas Is You has become a holiday classic, ranking among the most popular and enduring Christmas songs of all time.
The track has enjoyed annual success, consistently re-charting on the Billboard Hot 100, where it has claimed the No. 1 spot during the holiday season for the past four years.
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