What's the $20-million lawsuit against Mariah Carey about?

Halloween has passed and, as is tradition, the Western world is looking forward to the holidays, represented by a true icon...

Santa Claus? No! We're talking about Mariah Carey.

The singer has become a symbol of Christmas marketing because she found the formula to continue exploiting her great hit 'All I Want For Christmas Is You' (from 1994), year after year.

This year, however, Mariah's profits may turn out to be a little lower. Andy Stone, leader of 'Vince Vance and The Valiants,' has filed a plagiarism suit against her, asking for 20 million dollars as compensation for 'stealing' his Christmas song.

Photo: Vince Vance & The Valiants website

The country singer-songwriter chose November 1, the date on which Mariah Carey usually begins her Christmas campaign, to file the lawsuit in a California court. The filing was reported by Rolling Stone and People magazine.

In addition to Mariah Carey, the suit takes aim at Walter Afanasieff, who composed the song with the artist, and Sony Music Entertainment, the producer. Vince Vance accuses them all of "copyright infringement and unjust enrichment."

Andy Stone / Vince Vance claims that his country song, called 'All I Want For Christmas Is You' and composed in Nashville in 1989, was plagiarized, leading to the mega hit five years later.

Does the story sound familiar to you? That's possible, because it's the second time Andy Stone files the lawsuit. The first time was in June 2022 in a Louisiana court, but it was dismissed before the end of that year.

This time, the composer has turned to the legal firm Gerard P. Fox, as Billboard points out. It's the same firm that filed a lawsuit against Taylor Swift for the alleged plagiarism of 'Shake It Off' and managed to get a confidential agreement with the singer in December 2022. The procedure lasted for five years and they certainly made things difficult to 'shake off' for Swift.

On this occasion, Andy Stone has expanded his allegation of plagiarism. As Rolling Stone states, the plaintiff emphasizes that, first of all, the title of the song is similar - even though the songs are melodically different.

To counter this point, the BBC says that a similar title is not illegal. In fact, it adds, in the United States alone, there are 177 songs registered with the title 'All I Want For Christmas Is You.'

Obviously, the plaintiff knows this. So he also alleges that the "compositional structure and certain unique linguistic structures" of Mariah Carey's hit song are similar to his track.

Furthermore, Andy Stone points at the timing of the song. According to Billboard, he claims that his song was a Christmas hit in 1993. In fact, he says it was among the best country songs of the year.

Image: Vince Vance and the Valiants / Facebook (right)

Stone stresses that it is too much of a coincidence that his 1993 hit came right before that of Mariah Carey. He must have inspired her team.

According to Forbes, the Christmas song brings Mariah Carey 2 to 3 million dollars in annual profits. It estimates the total profits of the song since its release to be approximately $75 million.

Furthermore, Forbes estimates the singer's assets at $340 million. This means she would have no trouble at all facing Andy Stone's demand or a settlement. But that doesn't mean she's going to do it.

What was presented as a happy and lucrative Christmas for Mariah Carey seems to be somewhat clouded by a second and unexpected lawsuit. How Merry will her Christmas be? We'll see it at the trial.