Mariah Carey scores another victory in lawsuit over All I Want For Christmas Is You as judge orders opposition to pay massive penalty
Mariah Carey scored another legal win in a lawsuit over her hit song All I Want for Christmas Is You.
In 2023, the songstress, 56, was sued by two songwriters who claimed she copied their song, but the case was later dismissed.
Musicians Andy Stone and Troy Powers of Vince Vance & The Valiants fame sued her for $20 million as they claimed she plagiarized their 1989 hit song of the same name.
While the case was ultimately dismissed, the counsel representing the plaintiffs are now facing a new headache.
The judge presiding over the case has ordered them to pay sanctions to Carey, according to legal documents obtained by TMZ.
The paperwork showed the five-time Grammy winner was awarded $92,303.20 in sanctions.
Mariah Carey scored a legal win in the lawsuit over her hit song All I Want for Christmas Is You; pictured in February 2024
The songstress, 56, was sued two years ago by two songwriters who claimed she copied their song, but the case was later dismissed and she now has been awarded a near-six-digit sum in sanctions; pictured in her annual It’s Time announcement for 2025 released in November
The plaintiff’s lawyers were also ordered to pay several thousand dollars to other parties involved in the case, meaning they will have to turn over nearly $110,000 in total.
Stone and Powers were initially suing her for tens of millions for allegedly ‘copying’ their song, but the lawsuit was dismissed by the judge in March.
The judge has now found their action ‘lacked merit’ and ‘determined there was good reason to deter people from filing baseless lawsuits,’ per the outlet.
Previously, Stone and Powers claimed there were substantial similarities in the lyrics, melody and general feel of their holiday song.
After their song was made it on the Billboard charts during the 1993 holiday season, they alleged Carey ‘palmed off these works with her incredulous origin story, as if those works were her own.’
The Queen of Christmas released her famous song and her adjoining music video in 1994.
The now-dismissed case was a refiling of their 2022 lawsuit as Stone also previously attempted to sue Carey and claimed her iconic Christmas jingle violated ‘copyright infringement.’
Carey’s legal win comes just one week after she marked her 100th week at the top of Billboard’s Hot 100 List – a feat achieved as a result of 19 of her songs landing at number one on the chart over the course of her career, per Billboard and data aggregated by Luminate.
Her first number one was Vision of Love, which she released as part of her eponymous debut studio album in 1990.
Musicians Andy Stone (pictured) and Troy Powers of Vince Vance & The Valiants fame previously sued her for $20 million as they claimed she plagiarized their 1989 hit song of the same name
However, the judge presiding over the case ordered sanctions to be paid by them to Carey, according to legal documents
The judge has now found their action ‘lacked merit’ and ‘determined there was good reason to deter people from filing baseless lawsuits,’ per the outlet; pictured in November
The Queen of Christmas released her famous song and her adjoining music video in 1994. She released the track as part of her holiday album Merry Christmas in November of that year; pictured in November
Carey’s legal win comes just one week after she marked her 100th career week at the top of Billboard’s Hot 100 List, accumulated with 19 of her biggest hits including her iconic Christmas carol; pictured in September
Her many other songs that topped the leadership board — in addition to All I Want for Christmas Is You and her first one from her debut album — include Emotions (1991), Hero (1993), Always Be My Baby (1996), We Belong Together (2005), Touch My Body (2008) and many more.
Her beloved Christmas carol broke records as it lead the charts for the 21st week as the number one hit.
All I Want for Christmas also achieved its 78th week on the Hot 100 List in general as the longest-charted title ever by a female artist.
She released the track as part of her holiday album Merry Christmas in November 1994.
Since then and as streaming services became more mainstream in the past decade, her song first hit the top 10 list of most streamed songs in 2017.
The song reached top five in December 2018 and has continuously made the list for every winter season including this year.
