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

Reuters ^ | March 21, 2025 | Staff

[Red Badger]

March 20 (Reuters) - Pop singer Mariah Carey defeated a lawsuit claiming she illegally copied elements of her holiday megahit "All I Want for Christmas Is You" from a country song of the same name.

U.S. District Judge Monica Almadani in Los Angeles in a ruling, opens new tab on Wednesday said the writers of Vince Vance and the Valiants' "All I Want for Christmas Is You" failed to show their song was objectively similar enough to Carey's to support their copyright infringement case.

Attorneys for the songwriters, lawyers for Carey and spokespeople for her label, Sony Music (6758.T), opens new tab, did not immediately respond to requests for comment on the decision on Thursday.

Vince Vance and the Valiants' "All I Want for Christmas Is You" was released in 1989 and 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.

Andy Stone, who performs as Vince Vance, and co-writer Troy Powers filed the lawsuit in 2023. They said 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.

[MotorCityBuck]

I like the song as well. She also looks damned good in the video also.👍

https://youtu.be/aAkMkVFwAoo

[MotorCityBuck]

Of course no Christmas playlist must not go without Bob Rivers Classic (RIP this week)

https://youtu.be/VPtefCrMSAs

[mewzilla]

I vote with my wallet.

I’ve bought VV&tV music.

Never bought Carey’s.

[dforest]

Always have thought she has a lovely voice. I am not big on more modern type pop Christmas songs though.

[napscoordinator]

I absolutely can’t stand her. But this case was fairly concluded.

[Ezekiel]

All I want for Kung is Fu

Brilliant. Secrets-of-the-universe-level stuff.

I still have to reply on the pyramid thread but you reminded me of the Great Pyramid of Kung Fu...

No joke... the Pyramid of "Kufu" is the great pyramid of ingenuity and blue collar workers in the language of the origin of the Sun. And you know there was that famous town named "On" -- aka Heliopolis -- where the Egyptians built the obelisks. Coincidence?

On, as opposed to Off -- apparently it's some kind of energy device.

Well anyway, it's right here:

工夫

time and effort taken to perform a task; work
skills attained after taking the time and effort;
skilfulness; expertise; workmanship
work; labour; job; task
time (for doing something); free time
(colloquial) time (when something happened); moment; period
Alternative form of 功夫 (gōngfu, “martial arts; kung fu”)

https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/%E5%B7%A5%E5%A4%AB#Noun

"Ancient Chinese Secret" (take me away..)

[The Spirit Of Allegiance]

“time and effort taken to perform a task; work “

Whew. All that grammatical heavy lifting makes one hungry.

All I Want for To is Fu.

[Bigg Red]

I think you may be right. Nothing can chase away my Christmas spirit like the sound of her screaming that lame piece.

[Ezekiel]

That really takes the cake.

I'll press on then!

I should have included that Kung Fu is martial arts, named after Mars, Wars. 🔴

And the flag for the place named for being the origin of the Sun is right up there with the United States and Israel in the instant recognition department:

These ancient images really lost something on The Day the Music Died (on a Tuesday aka Mars' Day -- coincidence?)

Turning Japanese - The Vapors

Released January 1980

By the time the Bangles tried to catch up 6 years later, they were practically stiffs. But they earned an A+ for 80's big hair.

Where'd the vision all go? No wonder cougars are roaming around Beaverton in the middle of the night. AbSOLut Zero sense of direction!!

[lurk]

That song sticks in your brain like the adhesive gum of an old windshield sticker.

[lee martell]

That’s right. Vision of Love.

[monkeyshine]

Feel free to double check me on this but Orient means to face west. So you orientate your lawn jockeys towards the setting sun. They get a good tan that way. Except of course dark skinned lawn jockeys are horse race-ist. My lawn jockeys are continental - they face east. But it causes the horses to run in the wrong direction. Run, turn right, run faster. Very confusing if you bet the daily double. They stampede in the grandstands. It’s big in Japan.