Takeaway: Andy Stone is suing Mariah Carey for copyright infringement over her famous song, “All I Want for Christmas is You,” claiming that his intellectual property rights were willfully infringed.
Andy Stone, also known as Vince Vance, is a Mississippi musician who co-wrote Mariah’s famous hit in 1989 alongside co-writer Walter Afanasieff. Stone is now saying, “Defendants have knowingly, willfully, and intentionally engaged in a campaign to infringe plaintiff’s copyright in the work ‘All I Want for Christmas is You’ and to commit acts of unjust enrichment by the unauthorized appropriation of plaintiff’s work and the goodwill associated therewith, all of which are proprietary to plaintiff … to the commercial gain, personal profit and unjust enrichment of the defendants and the irreparable injury and financial loss of plaintiff.”
Stone claims that he never gave Carey or Columbia Records consent to use his copyright, nor does he claim to have given a license. Stone’s lawsuit is claiming copyright infringement, unjust enrichment, misappropriation, and violation of the Lanham Act. Stone is being represented by Douglas M. Schmidt and Andrew C. Abrams and is seeking “an amount not less than” $20 million for each of the three claims.
Photo Credit: bbc .com/news/world-us-canada-61688826
