Why is Mariah Carey getting sued (again) in 2023? The ‘All I Want For Christmas is You’ drama, explained

Mariah Carey is the self-appointed Queen of Christmas, a title she earned almost entirely through the release of her massive holiday hit “All I Want For Christmas Is You.”

The iconic Christmas ballad is a staple of the holiday season, and it earned Carey guaranteed prominence during the winter months. Even if she fades to irrelevance during summer and spring, the second Halloween concludes, Carey is back in the spotlight.

She makes sure of it, with her carefully timed posts marking Nov. 1 as the official start of “Mariah season.” You’d think she was known for nothing other than her Christmas offerings, with how hard she leans into the Queen of Christmas brand. All of it comes back to “All I Want For Christmas Is You,” Carey’s most popular — and most controversial — song.

That controversial status isn’t due to the legion of red-eyed retail workers who’d rather go permanently deaf than hear the track ever again, but rather due to an ongoing lawsuit Carey faces on a near-annual basis. The lawsuit is centered around the song that gave Carey her mistletoe crown, and — if successful — could see her knocked from her throne for good.

Why is Mariah Carey getting sued over ‘All I Want For Christmas Is You?’

Mariah Carey put out plenty of music ahead of 1994’s Merry Christmas, which contained the now-synonymous-with-Carey track “All I Want For Christmas Is You,” but that song quickly became her claim to fame. It’s been decades since she first released it — then re-released it, and re-released it again — but it maintains as the shining star atop Carey’s list of accomplishments.

Carey is pleased enough with her status as Christmas royalty that she even tried to trademark the phrase “Queen of Christmas,” a move that prompted quick backlash and was ultimately denied. It’s not the claim of Christmas Queen that’s got Carey back in legal troubles, however, but the song that prompted her dominance of the holiday season.

Carey was first sued over “All I Want For Christmas Is You” last year, and the same complainant is back with another $20 million suit over copyright infringement, violations of the Lanham Act, and unjust enrichment and misappropriation. The first suit came down in 2022 but was dropped five months later. It seems Andy Stone, one of the men behind the first suit, is hoping to see the case properly examined.

The lawsuit surrounds similarities between Carey’s hit track and one of the exact same name from 1989. Stone’s band, Vince Vance & the Valiants, released their own “All I Want For Christmas Is You” a good half decade ahead of Carey, and — while there are plenty of differences between the songs — they share enough in common for the lawsuit to hold water.

There are the identical names, of course, but the songs share plenty more than a name in common. Their compositions sound pretty different — at least up until the main chorus — but their lyrics share enough in common to raise eyebrows. They’re by no means identical, but those lyrical similarities are protected by copyright and if “substantial similarity” is found between the two songs, Carey could be liable.

Song titles are not protected by copyright, which eliminates that from Stone’s list of actionable issues, but the discussion over lyrical similarities — and occasional composition parallels — could see him walk away successful. It doesn’t seem overly likely, considering the many differences between the songs (and Carey’s far deeper pockets) but it could serve as an interesting example of the complexities of intellectual property law once the judge makes their a final decision.