Mariah Carey is being sued for $ 20 million (£ 16 million) for alleged copyright infringement on her hit song All I Want for Christmas Is You.
Singer and co-writer Walter Afanasieff are named in the lawsuit, which is being filed by composer Andy Stone.
Carey released the song in 1994 as part of their Merry Christmas album and has gone on to be recognized as one of the best known holiday hits.
In legal documents filed in the U.S. District Court in the Eastern District of Louisiana, Stone claims that he co-wrote the song in 1989 and has never given permission for it to be used.
The documents, obtained by PA Media, state that Carey and his collaborators “engaged in a campaign with knowledge, deliberation and intentional” to infringe on Stone’s copyright to the song.
They allege that the defendants also committed “acts of unjust enrichment by the unauthorized appropriation of the plaintiff’s work and the willpower fund associated with it.”
Merry Christmas was released by Columbia Records on November 1, 1994 and became the best-selling Christmas album in the United States of all time, selling over 15 million copies worldwide.