Mariah Carey has been cleared of copyright infringement in a lawsuit regarding her 1994 holiday classic, All I Want for Christmas Is You.
A US judge dismissed the case on Wednesday, rejecting claims made by songwriter Adam Stone, who alleged that Carey copied his 1989 song of the same name.
Stone, known as Vince Vance, had sought at least $20 million in damages, accusing Carey of exploiting his style and popularity.
Judge Mónica Ramírez Almadani ruled that the two songs merely shared common “Christmas song clichés” and were not substantially similar.
She also criticized Stone’s legal team for filing what she deemed “frivolous” arguments and ordered them to cover Carey’s legal fees. The lawsuit was initially filed in 2022 and later refiled after being dropped.
Stone had argued that his song gained extensive airplay in 1993, a year before Carey’s track was released.
Carey has consistently maintained that she composed most of the song on a simple Casio keyboard while watching It’s A Wonderful Life, later refining it with co-writer Walter Afanasieff.
Stone, however, dismissed her account as fabricated, insisting that even Afanasieff did not believe her version of events.
The court relied on expert testimony from musicologists, including New York University professor Lawrence Ferrara, who stated there were no significant melodic similarities between the two songs.
He also identified at least 19 earlier songs with similar lyrical themes, some even bearing the same title.
Another report from the defense was deemed inadmissible after the author admitted that the melodies were fundamentally different.
Judge Almadani ultimately ruled in favor of Carey, concluding that Stone had failed to prove copyright infringement. Neither Carey nor Stone have commented on the ruling.
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