Judge Rules Mariah Carey Did Not Infringe on Christmas Song Copyright

The iconic holiday song "All I Want For Christmas Is You," performed by Mariah Carey, has once again dominated the headlines, this time due to a legal battle. The song has spent six straight years atop Billboard’s Hot 100 chart. Yet it is now – incredibly – at the centre of a US$20 million lawsuit. Songwriters Andy Stone and Troy Powers claimed that Carey’s 1994 hit infringed on their country song of the same title released in 1989. Yet, incredible as it may seem, that lawsuit was thrown out by Judge Monica Ramírez Almadani, siding with Carey.

Carey and Walter Afanasieff, who collaborated with Carey on multiple hits, co wrote the song. Now, it’s both a holiday classic and an annual streaming miracle. Its success every year is due to mixing the airplay, sales, and now streaming data together to create a powerful metric blender. Though it’s become one of their most popular collaborations, Carey and Afanasieff have publicly battled for years over their contributions to the writing process.

Most recently, in 2023, the lawsuit alleged that Carey and Afanasieff would probably have listened to Stone and Powers’ song. The suit claimed that they had violated its copyright. Judge Ramírez Almadani disagreed with the merit of these allegations and ruled in favor of Carey’s motion for summary judgment.

"Made no reasonable effort to ensure that the factual contentions asserted have evidentiary support,” stated Judge Monica Ramírez Almadani.

The plaintiffs were left without a plan B, as the ruling required sanctions against the plaintiffs and their attorneys, branding their lawsuit frivolous. Underlying that ruling was the fact that plaintiffs’ attorneys did not meet their burden of evidence to sufficiently prove their case.

Since it was originally released in 1994, Mariah Carey’s “All I Want For Christmas Is You” has become a colossal hit. Yet in recent years, it’s proved to be an even more popular smash than the 90s. The show’s incredible popularity can be connected to its reliance on Christmas cliches—cliches we’ve never seen used in any works before. With its narrative hook that features a protagonist longing for affection instead of jewels, the single’s unusual topic has struck a chord across the globe.