The christmas queenMariah Carey, is not starting the summer very well.
In the documents acquired by La PosteAndy Stone, who co-wrote Vince Vance & the Valiants’ country song “All I Want For Christmas Is You,” is suing Carey for copyright infringement – claiming the diva never sought or obtained use of her title for its everlasting monster holiday hit.
Stone also comes after Carey’s co-writer on the song, Walter Afanasieff, in the civil lawsuit, which was filed in U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana.
Stone released his 1989 twangy version — which musically and lyrically bears no resemblance to Carey’s pop performance — before Carey changed the holiday season forever in 1994. In the suit, he claims his song has aired widely during the 1993 holiday season, a year before Carey’s release. hers.
The Scrooge is suing the “Obsessed” singer for $20 million in damages.
“Applicant [Stone] personally requested that the defendants [Carey and Afanasieff] cease and desist from further distributing plaintiff’s work,” the suit reads in part. “Despite Plaintiff’s request, Defendants continue to exploit Plaintiff’s ‘All I Want For Christmas Is You’ work, reaping huge financial rewards and other pecuniary benefits at Plaintiff’s expense.”
According to the documents, Carey and Afanasieff “knowingly, willfully and intentionally engaged in a campaign to violate [Stone’s] copyright in the work…to the commercial gain, personal gain and unjust enrichment of defendants and to irreparable harm and economic loss” of Stone.
Carey’s rep declined to comment when contacted by The Post.
Decades later, streams and radio airplay of Carey’s “All I Want For Christmas Is You” continue to fill his stocking with money. The song has over a billion streams on Spotify alone.
According to the lawsuit, Stone is an independent artist in the business of performing, selling and licensing his copyrighted music and earns a living from fees received from these activities.
Read the full lawsuit below.
Carey’s Christmas Song reached No. 1 on the Billboard Top 100 chart around the holidays in 2019 and 2020.
The song set Spotify’s most-streamed track on Spotify’s 24-hour (female) record in 2019 – then beat again in 2020, according to Guinness World Records.
“WOW,” Carey tweeted in 2020. “I know people think I’m making ‘money’ (little secret: artists earn very little from streams) but the real reason I’m sitting here in amazement and gratitude is to see the joy that this little song I wrote brings to people. THANK YOU AND MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!”
When they got together in the summer of 1994 to write songs for the “Merry Christmas” album, Afanasieff and Carey created the chords, structure and melody of “All I Want for Christmas Is You”. in just 15 minutes.
“It’s definitely not ‘Swan Lake’,” admitted Afanasieff. “But that’s why it’s so popular – because it’s so simple and palatable!”
He also said he hadn’t heard from the “Honey” singer since they worked on her “Butterfly” album in 1997, after which she decided to explore a more R&B-influenced direction. .
“It’s a shame because we had great chemistry,” Afanasieff said. “My biggest dream is to work with her again. Mariah, all I want for Christmas is you!