Mariah Carey has been slapped with a $20 million lawsuit after two songwriters accused her of stealing "All I Want For Christmas Is You."
The hit Christmas jingle has received several recognitions for going viral every year during the holiday season. Decades after it was released, two songwriters came forward to accuse Carey of creating the track based on their music.
Mariah Carey's $20M "All I Want For Christmas Is You" Lawsuit Explained
In the court documents obtained by RadarOnline.com, Carey responded to the lawsuit along with Universal Music and Sony Music. She demanded through the filing that the claims in the lawsuit by Andy Stone (Vince Vance) and Troy Powers should be dismissed.
Stone and Powers co-wrote a song with the same title in 1989, and they filed several lawsuits against Carey, including the 2023 lawsuit in which they demanded $20 million in damages from Carey for allegedly stealing the track. They noted that both tracks share a similar melody and fear, slamming the "Without You" singer for having "palmed off these works with her incredulous origin story, as if those works were her own."
Per Stone, the song received airplay in 1993 before Carey released her song a year later.
On the other hand, Carey responded through her lawyer and questioned Stone and Powers' silence for nearly 30 years only to file the "outrageous and insulting claim" about the song now.
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"Not only does Plaintiffs' song unlawfully copy an even earlier hit song, but the two songs' music and lyrics are completely different, with Plaintiffs absurdly relying on, for example, both song's references-like untold Christmas songs before them-to snow, mistletoe, presents under Christmas trees, and wanting a loved one for Christmas, and relying on generalized and unprotectable themes such as the human condition, and the need for the company of another above all else at Christmastime," the representative continued.
Carey's representative added that the alleged copied elements "are not protected by copyright."
They ended the response by calling Stone and Powers' claims in their lawsuit as something frivolous and false.
Carey previously revealed that she wrote "All I Want For Christmas Is You" when she was a kid.
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