Mariah Carey Faces Plagiarism Lawsuit Over ‘All I Want For Christmas Is You’ – Opinion

Legendary Mississippian songwriter Andy Stone, from the even more legendary Vince Vance & The Valiants, is suing unknown pop singer Mariah Carey for copyright infringement. The suit complains that Ms. Carey, in cohorts — and, dare we say it, in cahoots — with one Walter Afanasieff, wrote a song titled “All I Want For Christmas Is You” some five years after Mr. Stone composed his immortal tune bearing the same title.

Other than the song’s name, which is registered at the United States Copyright Office with the same title as the one in question, there are no other similarities between the actual songs. Although the reference above includes both recordings and songs, there is no guarantee that more than one song with the same moniker is currently on file in Washington, D.C. basements.

We proceed with a warning: the following videos contain material that may prove upsetting or offensive to sensitive people–such as music lovers.

BBC News provides more information on this grievance.

Songwriter Andy Stone says he co-wrote a song with the same name five years earlier, arguing that Ms. Carey exploited his “popularity” and “style”.

The songs have a similar title but the music is musically very different. Mr. Stone says Ms. Carey confused him and refused permission.

The exact nature of Mr. Stone’s “popularity” and “style” is presently under research.

Although statistics for Mr. Stone’s song are oddly unavailable, Ms. Carey (who is she again?) Ms. Carey has only managed to collect $60 million in royalty payments from her song. There are over 1 billion Spotify users, and the song has earned Ms. Carey approximately $47.18. Spotify has the lowest percentage of artists being paid by Spotify.

It warrants mention that while copyright laws cover actual song content —melody, lyrics, chord structure, stuff like that —song titles in and of themselves are ancillary, which makes Mr. Stone’s case somewhat suspect. Rendering it even more suspect is the minor detail that Ms. Carey’s song debuted in 1994. Even when considering Mr. Stone’s location, Mississippi does have all the accruements of modern living, such as radio, television, and other contemporary broadcast mediums. This makes it hard to accept any notion of Just nowIt was easy to discover the song existed even though one has never been in a shop between Thanksgiving and Christmas. Mr. Stone’s case is so weak. Amber Heard sent him a message, advising that he bring it with him.

Mr. Stone wants $20 million. That’s a great deal.