The federal judge overseeing the case said she was inclined to side with the Queen of Christmas.
Carey and her lawyers disputed this.
Its not required that we show everything is identical, or that its virtual plagiarism.
Mariah Carey on Nov. 6, 2024 in Highland, CA.Kevin Mazur/Getty Images/Mariah Carey
He said two musicologists hired by plaintiffs found substantial similarity between the two songs.
But its not just similarities, right?
Its protectable similarity, the judge said, interrupting Foxs argument.
In prior filings, he said those lyrics were public domain.
The notes are actually different, the metric placement is actually different, Anderson said.
A sequence of pitches, even if theyre the same, is not protectable.
Their own experts admit that theyre arranged differently, he argued.
Fox disputed Andersons characterization.
The judge stopped him there.
Im not sure you dispute that.
Fox said some aspects are common, but others are not.
Dont your very experts acknowledge that the songs select and arrange their element in different ways?
Fox called that an oversimplification, saying his filings give evidence there was copying.
There is so much thats similar.
But it is fundamental that copyright only protects expression of ideas, not the ideas themselves.
The motion said the mentions of the Christmas tropes were different in each song.
Stone, whose legal name is Andrew Franichevich, originally sued Carey in June 2022.
He dismissed the complaint without prejudice a few months later, reserving his right to refile.
