NEW ORLEANS — Local entertainer Vince Vance went to the White House in the 1990s to perform his Christmas song. After that appearance, it hit the charts.
Mariah Carey has a Christmas hit that has been at the top of the charts and streamed a couple of billion times.
Now a new lawsuit alleges that Carey's song is very similar.
Mariah Carey's “All I Want For Christmas Is You” has charted at number one, but a local artist says her song is very similar to his.
Vince Vance wrote his “All I Want For Christmas Is You” in 1989. It charted too, around number 52, before Mariah Carey released hers in 1994.
“So every time she sells a record, guess who gets the money, Mariah Carey, and he deserves this money,” said attorney Douglas Schmidt, who is representing Vince Vance.
He just filed a copyright infringement lawsuit in California against Mariah Carey, her co-writer, and Sony Music Entertainment. They are seeking $20 million in damages.
“We're not suing on the melody, but it's the words. And you can tell it's the exact same. It's the same story, same thing under the Christmas tree. It's the exact same. Now she says, ‘Oh well, I thought of this when I was a little girl.’ Her own writer says that's a lot of bunk,” said Schmidt.
“I've been tired of the way that she approaches this, and her corporate lawyers, and her attorneys, to post this with me. They treat me like I don’t have a case, and obviously I had a song for four years as a very big hit, and she says she didn’t hear it, and all this stuff, and she just happened to come out with her song, and it really hurt my feelings,” said Vince Vance, whose legal name is Andy Stone.
Schmidt was hoping for an out-of-court settlement when he filed the same civil suit last year in Louisiana.
“Sony and Mariah Carey have some of the top attorneys in the world, really good attorneys. That's all they do is this kind of work, OK? Gentleman, gentleman, hard-nosed gentleman though. I have my helmet on if they, if they want to try it in court,” said Schmidt.
But this time he's partnered with an attorney in Los Angeles.
“Gerard Fox is one of the top attorneys in the world. He does this a lot,” said Schmidt. When asked if he wants the case because he thinks it's winnable, he replied, “Yes.”
“I just would like really an apology. That it’s just lying to me and just saying that my song is not her song’s not a derivative of mine,” said Vance.
So, if there's no settlement this time, it could be up to a jury to decide.
We contacted the record company for a comment on its side, but have not heard back.
Vince Vance says he is filing the lawsuit all these years later because there were pressing family matters that had to come first.
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