Whenever you hear the word Christmas, one of the first things that come to mind is the iconic holiday smash hit from American singer-songwriter Mariah Carey – “All I Want For Christmas Is You”; it never fails to top the music charts every year in December. Despite releasing multiple Christmas songs and albums over the years, “All I Want For Christmas Is You” still remains the 5-octave range vocalist’s most iconic song of all time.
Since the song’s release in 1994, the singer has always been referred to as ‘The Queen of Christmas’. It’s basically her trademark at this point (not legally though). The Grammy award-winning artist actually tried to trademark the ‘Queen of Christmas’ title but her efforts were unsuccessful after being blocked by another singer for the trademark.
Mariah Carey’s application to trademark the ‘Queen of Christmas’ title has been denied by the United States Patent and Trademark Office. This was not the only title the singer applied to trademark as she also filed for ‘Princess Christmas’ and ‘QOC’ (Queen of Christmas) back in March 2021, which were also denied.
When news broke out that the mother-of-two attempted to legally own these phrases and titles, other singers spoke out against her decision including festive singer Elizabeth Chan. The New York-based musician apparently challenged the trademark filings as she has also been called the ‘Queen of Christmas’ by The New Yorker magazine back in 2018.
The 42-year-old who has devoted 11 years to singing festive songs during the holiday season, released a statement earlier this week (Tuesday, 15h November) saying, “Christmas is a season of giving, not the season of taking, and it is wrong for an individual to attempt to own and monopolise a nickname like Queen of Christmas for the purposes of abject materialism.”
The festive singer then added that she was protecting future Queens of Christmas saying that everyone deserves a chance of wearing the title. “I wear that title as a badge of honour and with full knowledge that it will be – and should be – bestowed on others in the future,” she said. Other than Elizabeth, veteran singer Darlene Love also spoke out against Mariah trademarking the ‘Queen of Christmas’ title.
The 81-year-old was declared ‘Queen of Christmas’ by David Letterman a year before Mariah released her hit song. “I’m not changing anything. If Mariah has a problem, call David or my lawyer,” she said. If the “We Belong Together” songstress had been successful in trademarking the title, it would have restricted others from using the title or phrase in music or merchandise.
Sources: TheStar, TheStraitsTimes
