Mariah Carey wants the legal fees from a recently dismissed copyright lawsuit over “All I Want for Christmas” returned to her with a big red bow on top. The musician reportedly spent more than $180,000 fighting the case in which singer-songwriter Vince Vance alleged that she ripped off his Christmas jingle of the same name. A federal judge dismissed the suit in March after ruling the two songs mostly just shared “Christmas song clichés.” Now, Carey is seeking reimbursement of the legal expenses she has been billed for.
“The court should consider that [Vance was] seeking, among other things, $20 million in damages, injunctive relief, and even the destruction of all copies of ‘All I Want for Christmas Is You,’” Carey’s attorneys stated, per Billboard. “Considering such drastic requested relief, and the results obtained, defendants were perfectly justified in incurring the aforementioned attorney’s fees to successfully oppose plaintiffs’ motion.”
Carey’s lawyers reportedly worked on the case for 295 hours, bringing their total charge to $185,602.30. Carey is seeking $141,000, while co-writer Walter Afanasieff asked for $7,000. Sony Music requested $32,000, and Kobalt asked for $5,000.
At the time of dismissal, the judge called Vince and his lawyers’ conduct “egregious,” stating that they “cause[d] unnecessary delay and needlessly increase the costs of litigation.” The judge ordered them at the time to repay Carey’s legal bills incurred while defending the case, but will ultimately have to rule on the official request for repayment in the coming weeks. Vance will also be able to dispute the ruling.
Vince previously sued Carey in June 2022, but dismissed the complaint without prejudice a few months later. “Plaintiffs have not met their burden of showing that [the songs by] Carey and Vance are substantially similar under the extrinsic test,” the judge ultimately ruled.
From Rolling Stone US
