Mariah Carey is facing a $34m lawsuit over hit song 'All I Want For Christmas is You'

Musician Andy Stone is suing Mariah Carey for US$20 million (NZ$34 million) over claims that her holiday hit All I Want For Christmas is You infringed on his copyright.

Stone, who is the lead singer of the band Vince Vance and the Valiants, co-wrote his song - also called All I Want For Christmas is You - in 1989. Stone alleges that Carey and her production team copied his song’s “compositional structure” in a complaint obtained by Fox New Digital.

The pop icon is said to have “directly” copied lyrics from Stone’s 1989 song and “approximately 50 per cent” of the track is copyright infringement, according to court documents.

Stone accused Carey and her team of “undoubtedly” having access to his version of All I Want For Christmas is You due to its “wide commercial and cultural success”.

Stone’s holiday song charted on Billboard for many years, with his band even performing the hit during an appearance at the White House back in 1994 — the same year Carey’s song with the same title was released.

Following the White House performance, Vince Vance and the Valiants’ song returned to the Billboard Hot Country Chart in 1994, court documents claim.

“Carey has capitalised on the success of her infringing work,” Stone’s complaint revealed. “All I Want For Christmas is You has become a ubiquitous part of popular culture, and Carey’s name has become synonymous with the season.”

A representative for Carey has not immediately responded to Fox News Digital’s request for comment.

This isn’t the first time Stone has taken the Obsessed singer to court. Stone first sued Carey in June 2022 in a Louisiana court before dropping the allegations five months later, PEOPLE reports.

Carey’s All I Want For Christmas is You has been a holiday staple since it first came out in 1994. The festive hit song topped the Billboard Hot 100 and has sold more than 10 million copies.

The self-acclaimed Queen of Christmas has leaned into the success of the track, teasing the Christmas season on Instagram by sharing a clip announcing “It’s time” for All I Want for Christmas is You on Wednesday.

This year’s video has been viewed by over 70 million people and has received two million likes on Instagram.

In the past, Carey has reflected on the song’s origins and revealed just how the holiday hit came to be in an interview with W Magazine.

“The idea of me doing a Christmas album at all came from the record company,” Carey told the publication. “It was very early in my career, and I thought it was a little early for me to be doing that, but I was like, ‘Well, I love Christmas.’ I had some very sad Christmases as a child, but I always try to find the bright light there.

“I didn’t want it to feel specific to any era, so we didn’t use sounds that were happening at that time,” she shared. “That way, it would feel classic and timeless.

“But I could never have imagined that it would become such a major part of my life.”

This article was first published by the NZ Herald and is republished here with permission.