Songwriter Andy Stone is suing singer Mariah Carey and record producer Walter Afanasieff over the song “All I Want For Christmas Is You“, In 1989, Stone composed a song of the same title, which was released by the group Vince Vance & the Valiants. According to him, his version is being plagiarized.
However, what stands out the most is that, despite sharing the same title, the songs have no other similarities; neither melody nor lyrics. Still, Stone seeks $20 million in damages and claims that Mariah and her associates “knowingly, willfully and intentionally participated in a campaign” to infringe her copyright.
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The document accuses the defendants of committing “acts of unjust enrichment by the unauthorized appropriation of the plaintiff’s work and the trade associated with it“.
Mariah Carey’s hit “All I Want For Christmas Is You” was released in 1994. According to Stone, her version of the song was widely played during the 1993 Christmas season. In the US, there are more than 170 works, including songs, with the same title, and that the copyright law does not guarantee the protection of the title.