Mariah Carey performs during a concert celebrating Dubai Expo 2020 One Year to Go in Dubai, United Arab Emirates on Oct. 20, 2019. (AP Photo/Kamran Jebreili, File)2025-03-20T20:25:14Z A federal judge in Los Angeles has ruled that Mariah Carey did not steal her perennial megahit All I Want for Christmas Is You from other songwriters. Judge Mnica Ramrez Almadani granted Careys request for summary judgment on Wednesday, giving her and co-writer and co-defendant Walter Afanasieff a victory without going to trial. In 2023, songwriters Andy Stone of Louisiana who goes by the stage name Vince Vance and Troy Powers of Tennessee filed the $20 million lawsuit alleging that Careys 1994 song, which has since become a holiday standard and annual streaming sensation, infringed the copyright of their country 1989 song with the same title. Their lawyer Gerard P. Fox said hes disappointed in an email to The Associated Press. Fox said it is his experience that judges at this level nearly always now dismiss a music copyright case and that one must appeal to reverse and get the case to the jury. My client will make a decision shortly on whether to appeal. We filed based on the opinions of two esteemed musicologists who teach at great colleges. Stone and Powers suit said their All I Want For Christmas Is You contains a unique linguistic structure where a person, disillusioned with expensive gifts and seasonal comforts, wants to be with their loved one, and accordingly writes a letter to Santa Claus. They said there was an overwhelming likelihood Carey and Afanasieff had heard their song which at one point reached No. 31 on Billboards Hot Country chart and infringed their copyright by taking significant elements from it. After hearing from two experts for each side, Ramrez Almadani agreed with those from the defense, who said the writers employed common Christmas cliches that existed prior to both songs, and that Careys song used them differently. She said the plaintiffs had not met the burden of showing that the songs are substantially similar. Ramrez Almadani also ordered sanctions against the plaintiffs and their lawyers, saying their suit and subsequent filings were frivolous and that the plaintiffs attorneys made no reasonable effort to ensure that the factual contentions asserted have evidentiary support.She said they must pay at least part of the defendants attorney fees. Defense attorneys and publicists for Carey did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Careys Christmas colossus has become an even bigger hit in recent years than it was in the 1990s. It has reached No. 1 on Billboards Hot 100 chart the past six years in a row measuring the most popular songs each week not just the holiday-themed by airplay, sales and streaming. Carey and Afanasieff have had their own public disagreement though not one thats gone to court over who wrote how much of the song. But the case made them at least temporary allies. ANDREW DALTON Dalton covers entertainment for The Associated Press, with an emphasis on crime, courts and obituaries. He has worked for the AP for 20 years and is based in Los Angeles. mailto