Mariah Carey has officially been cleared of copyright infringement in the long-running legal battle over her 1994 Christmas hit, All I Want for Christmas Is You.
A U.S. judge dismissed the case brought forward by songwriter Adam Stone, who alleged that Carey had exploited his song of the same title, originally released in 1989. Stone, who performs under the name Vince Vance, accused Carey of not only copying his song but also capitalizing on his style and popularity.
Seeking at least $20 million in damages, he claimed that her global success was built on a song that was rightfully his. However, the court ultimately ruled in Carey’s favor, rejecting Stone’s claims due to a lack of substantial similarities between the two tracks.
The ruling, issued by Judge Mónica Ramírez Almadani on Wednesday, cited expert testimony that determined both songs merely shared common Christmas-themed elements. According to Judge Almadani, these were not unique enough to constitute copyright infringement, as they were widely used in holiday music long before either version of All I Want for Christmas Is You existed.
“The songs simply share Christmas song clichés,” she wrote, referencing expert analysis that highlighted the prevalence of festive tropes such as Santa Claus, mistletoe, and general expressions of holiday cheer in numerous songs predating both Carey’s and Stone’s versions.
As a result, the court found that Stone and his legal team had not met their burden of proof in demonstrating that Carey’s song was substantially similar to his.
Furthermore, Judge Almadani did not just dismiss the case—she also imposed sanctions on Stone and his lawyers, calling their arguments “frivolous” and legally unsound. She criticized their filings for being vague and filled with subjective opinions rather than factual evidence.
As a penalty for pursuing a baseless case, Stone and his legal team were ordered to cover Carey’s legal fees. This additional consequence signaled the court’s disapproval of the lawsuit, which was initially filed in 2022, withdrawn in December of that year, and then refiled in January 2023. Despite the repeated legal challenges, Carey’s legal team remained firm in their stance that the lawsuit had no merit.
Stone’s claims largely revolved around the idea that his song had received significant airplay during the 1993 holiday season, just one year before Carey released her now-iconic Christmas anthem. He disputed Carey’s account of how she wrote the song, rejecting her recollection that she composed it on a Casio keyboard while watching It’s a Wonderful Life.
In court documents, Stone accused Carey of fabricating an “incredulous origin story” to pass off his work as her own. “Her hubris knowing no bounds, even her co-credited songwriter doesn’t believe the story she has spun,” he alleged, referring to co-writer Walter Afanasieff, who had once expressed skepticism over Carey’s version of events.
However, expert reports commissioned by Carey’s defense team dismantled Stone’s claims. A report by New York University professor Lawrence Ferrara determined that there were no significant melodic similarities between the two songs. He further identified at least 19 songs predating Stone’s track that shared similar lyrics and themes—many of which were also titled All I Want for Christmas Is You.
Another report submitted by the plaintiff’s side was deemed inadmissible, particularly after its author conceded in court that the melodies of the two songs were entirely different due to their contrasting rhythms.
Based on this overwhelming evidence, Judge Almadani ruled in Carey’s favor, dismissing the case outright. Neither Carey nor Stone issued an immediate public statement following the ruling, but the decision reaffirms the Queen of Christmas’s rightful ownership of one of the most commercially successful holiday songs of all time.
