Mariah Carey didn’t steal ‘All I Want for Christmas Is You,’ judge rules

LOS ANGELES - A federal judge in Los Angeles has ruled that Mariah Carey did not steal her holiday megahit, "All I Want for Christmas Is You."

Judge Mónica Ramírez Almadani granted Carey's request for summary judgment on Wednesday, giving her and co-writer and co-defendant Walter Afanasieff a victory without going to trial.

FILE - Singer Mariah Carey during an interview on Dec. 7, 2020 -- (Photo By: NBC/NBCU Photo Bank via Getty Images)

About the lawsuit

The backstory:

 In 2023, songwriters Andy Stone of Louisiana — who goes by the stage name Vince Vance — and Troy Powers of Tennessee filed the $20 million lawsuit alleging that Carey's 1994 song, which has since become a holiday standard and annual streaming sensation, infringed the copyright of their country 1989 song with the same title.

Stone and Powers' suit said their "'All I Want For Christmas Is You' contains a unique linguistic structure where a person, disillusioned with expensive gifts and seasonal comforts, wants to be with their loved one, and accordingly writes a letter to Santa Claus.

They said there was an "overwhelming likelihood" Carey and Afanasieff had heard their song — which at one point reached No. 31 on Billboard's Hot Country chart — and infringed their copyright by taking significant elements from it.

What they're saying:

Stone and Power’s lawyer, Gerard P. Fox said it is his experience that judges at this level "nearly always now dismiss a music copyright case and that one must appeal to reverse and get the case to the jury. My client will make a decision shortly on whether to appeal. We filed based on the opinions of two esteemed musicologists who teach at great colleges."

Plaintiffs have to pay

Dig deeper:

After hearing from two experts for each side, Ramírez Almadani agreed with those from the defense, who said the writers employed common Christmas cliches that existed before both songs, and that Carey's song used them differently. She said the plaintiffs had not met the burden of showing that the songs were substantially similar.

Ramírez Almadani also ordered sanctions against the plaintiffs and their lawyers, saying their suit and subsequent filings were frivolous and that the plaintiffs' attorneys "made no reasonable effort to ensure that the factual contentions asserted have evidentiary support."

She said they must pay at least part of the defendants' attorney fees.

Defense attorneys and publicists for Carey did not immediately respond to a request for comment.