Mariah Carey slams 'All I Want for Christmas Is You' copyright lawsuit

Jan 18 (Reuters) - Mariah Carey has fired back at a California federal lawsuit over her holiday standard "All I Want for Christmas Is You," calling a country singer's claim that she copied his band's song of the same name "not only false but frivolous."

Carey, her label Sony Music (6758.T), opens new tab and her song's publisher Universal Music Group (UMG.AS), opens new tabtold the court, opens new tab on Wednesday that her hit and Vince Vance and the Valiants' "All I Want for Christmas Is You" are "completely different," and that the claim was "outrageous and insulting."

Carey also argued that the band's song was itself copied from an earlier song -- Bobby Vinton's 1964 hit "My Heart Belongs Only to You."

Representatives for the plaintiffs, Carey and the record companies did not immediately respond to requests for comment on Thursday.

Andy Stone, who performs as Vince Vance, and his co-writer Troy Powers filed the lawsuit last November. They said that Carey's song copied their song's "extended comparison between a loved one and trappings of seasonal luxury" and other lyrical and musical elements, requesting at least $20 million in damages.

Vince Vance and the Valiants released their "All I Want for Christmas Is You" in 1989, and it reached the Billboard country charts during holiday seasons in the 1990s. Carey's song appeared on her 1994 album "Merry Christmas" and has since become a popular standard, topping the Billboard Hot 100 chart every holiday season since 2019.

Carey said on Wednesday that Stone's song was "obscure and obviously different" from her own. Her court filing said that Stone's case "absurdly" relies on "both songs' references — like untold Christmas songs before them — to snow, mistletoe, presents under Christmas trees, and wanting a loved one for Christmas" as well as other "generalized and unprotectable themes."

Stone filed and later withdrew a similar lawsuit against Carey in Louisiana in 2022.

The case is Stone v. Carey, U.S. District Court for the Central District of California, No. 2:23-cv-09216.