American singer and songwriter Mariah Carey has been sued by a country music songwriter for her one of the most popular holiday songs of all time 'All I Want For Christmas Is You'.
According to Deadline, she along with co-writer Walter Afansieff has been named in a copyright infringement lawsuit by songwriter Andy Stone.
Stone has alleged that his 1989 song 'All I Want For Christmas Is You' by Vince Vance and the Valiants from has been infringed. He has filed his papers in the US District Court in the Eastern District of Louisiana, reported the outlet.
Though both the songs have the same titles, there is only a hint of Carey's melody or lyrics beyond the title call-out. Her version of the song was released in 1994 and has become a holiday staple on radio, streaming, and the NBA's annual slate of games on Christmas Day.
Stone has asked for USD 20 million in damages, claiming that during the 1993 holiday season his song had received extensive airplay. The country songwriter has alleged that Carey and Afansieff "intentionally engaged in a campaign to infringe" his copyright on the work, according to Deadline.
It has been noted by a Los Angeles attorney specializing in music and intellectual property rights, Pamela Koslyn, that there are 177 works, with many of the musical compositions having 'All I Want For Christmas Is You' as the title. However, she did state that if all of the lyrics of the songs had been "substantially similar" then the situation would have been different.
As per Deadline, the Carey version of the song has over 1 billion Spotify streams. Last year, it became the first song to be a No. 1 hit in three separate runs on the Billboard Hot 100 Singles chart.
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