Mariah Carey did not steal her record-setting song "All I Want for Christmas Is You," a federal judge in Los Angeles ruled this week. The judge dismissed the case against the self-titled "Queen of Christmas" and her co-writer in which two songwriters had claimed she stole the track of the same name. Andy Stone of Louisiana and Troy Powers of Tennessee filed the $20 million lawsuit in 2023 alleging that Careys 1994 song, which has since become a holiday standard and annual streaming sensation, infringed the copyright of their country 1989 song with the same title.RELATED STORY | 'All I Want For Christmas is You' is having another record-setting year on Billboard chartsTheir lawyer Gerard P. Fox said he's "disappointed" in an email to The Associated Press.Fox said it is his experience that judges at this level "nearly always now dismiss a music copyright case and that one must appeal to reverse and get the case to the jury. My client will make a decision shortly on whether to appeal. We filed based on the opinions of two esteemed musicologists who teach at great colleges."Stone and Powers' suit said their "'All I Want For Christmas Is You' contains a unique linguistic structure where a person, disillusioned with expensive gifts and seasonal comforts, wants to be with their loved one, and accordingly writes a letter to Santa Claus."They said there was an "overwhelming likelihood" Carey and Afanasieff had heard their song which at one point reached No. 31 on Billboard's Hot Country chart and infringed their copyright by taking significant elements from it.After hearing from two experts for each side, Ramrez Almadani agreed with those from the defense, who said the writers employed common Christmas cliches that existed prior to both songs, and that Carey's song used them differently. She said the plaintiffs had not met the burden of showing that the songs are substantially similar.Ramrez Almadani also ordered sanctions against the plaintiffs and their lawyers, saying their suit and subsequent filings were frivolous and that the plaintiffs' attorneys "made no reasonable effort to ensure that the factual contentions asserted have evidentiary support."She said they must pay at least part of the defendants' attorney fees.Defense attorneys and publicists for Carey did not immediately respond to a request for comment.Carey's Christmas colossus has become an even bigger hit in recent years than it was in the 1990s. It has reached No. 1 on Billboard's Hot 100 chart the past six years in a row measuring the most popular songs each week not just the holiday-themed by airplay, sales and streaming.Carey and Afanasieff have had their own public disagreement though not one that's gone to court over who wrote how much of the song. But the case made them at least temporary allies. ...read more read less