MARIAH Carey is being sued for £16 million for copyright infringement over her famous no 1 hit single All I Want for Christmas is You.
Both Carey and her co-writer Walter Afanasieff have been named in the lawsuit which is being brought forth by songwriter Andy Stone.
The song was first released in 1994 as part of the album Merry Christmas and has gone on to be recognised as one of the most well-known festive hits.
The documents have been filed at the US District Court in the Eastern District of Louisiana with Mr Stone claiming that he co-wrote a song with the same name in 1989 with his band Vance & The Valiants and never gave permission for it to be used.
The documents state that Carey and her collaborators “knowingly, wilfully and intentionally engaged in a campaign” to infringe Stone’s copyright for the song.
They added the defendants had also committed “acts of unjust enrichment by the unauthorised appropriation of plaintiff’s work and the goodwill associated therewith”.
Merry Christmas was released in November 1994, selling more than 15 million copies worldwide and becoming the best-selling US Christmas album of all time.
