Mariah Carey has been awarded over $92,000 after a lawsuit over All I Want For Christmas Is You was dismissed.
The Hero hitmaker was sued by country artist Andy Stone, who performs under the name Vince Vance, back in November 2023 after he alleged her festive classic was ripped off from his own 1988 Christmas song of the same name but his copyright infringement lawsuit was dismissed inMarch.
And now, according to court documents obtainedby Rolling Stone, Vince must pay Mariah $92,300 in attorneys fees, part of a $109,983 total sanction imposed by the court.
The court found Mariah and co-defendants Sony Music, Kobalt Publishing, and producer Walter Afanasieff had incurred “needless expenses responding to frivolous legal arguments and unsupported factual contentions” and ordered Stone to pay out the money, which included more than $14,000 to Sony.
Judge Mónica Ramírez Almadani had ruled that Stone and his co-writer Troy Powers lacked sufficient evidence of infringement.
She also criticised the “egregious” conduct of Stone and his lawyers, Gerard Fox and Douglas M. Schmidt.
The dismissal of the$20 million lawsuit read: “Although each incident of sanctionable conduct, in isolation, may not warrant more than a stern reprimand, it is the aggregate of misconduct reflected in Plaintiffs’ Motion that makes this an egregious situation warranting more severe sanctions.”
In the latest filing, the judge noted Stone’s attorneys had made no mention of Powers in their documents, though Mr. Fox had noted he “no longer had contact” with him.
She said: “Until leave to withdraw is granted, Fox and Schmidt remain under a professional duty to represent Powers’ interests to the best of their ability.
“It does not appear that Plaintiffs’ counsel have upheld their ethical obligation to Powers.”
The lawyers have been given a deadline of 5 January to submit their argument to explained “why their failure to comply with the California Rules of Professional Conduct and the Local Rules regarding withdrawal should not be the subject of disciplinary action.”
Failure to respond could result in additional sanctions.