3 Count: Late Christmas

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1: Mariah Carey Slams ‘All I Want for Christmas Is You’ Copyright Lawsuit

First off today, Blake Brittain at Reuters reports that Mariah Carey, along with her record label and publisher, have responded to a lawsuit over the song All I Want for Christmas is You, claiming that the allegations are “not only false but frivolous.”

The lawsuit was filed by Andy Stone, better known as Vince Vance, and his co-writer alleging that Carey’s 1994 hit song is an infringement of their 1989 song of the same name. This represented the artist’s second lawsuit against Carey, with the first being withdrawn in 2022.

However, Carey has hit back against these allegations, saying that Stone’s song is “obscure” and that the two works are completely different apart from having the same name. According to Carey, any similarities the songs do share pertain to generic references about the holidays, including things such as snow, mistletoe and Christmas trees.

2: Over a Million “Manipulated” Versions of Copyrighted Tracks Found on Streaming Platforms

Next up today, Becky Buckle at Mixmag reports that a new report by Pex claims that they have found over a million “manipulated” tracks on music streaming services, including Spotify, Apple Music and TIDAL.

The songs are modified version of hit songs. They have their tempo or pitch altered so that they will not be detected by automated systems meant to prevent duplicative tracks. According to the report, roughly 1% of all music on the services have some kind of modification and is “misattributed and misappropriated.”

Though many of the manipulated tracks get almost no streams, several have reached millions including a version of Lady Gaga’s Bloody Mary, which has 25 million streams.

3: Microsoft is Working on a Shazam-Like App for Identifying Video Content

Finally today, Flavius Floare at Windows Report writes that, according to a recent patent filing, Microsoft appears to be working on a new Content ID-like system for identifying and matching videos.

The system would examine a target video and compare it to a reference video. It would see if the target video has clips or shots that are in the refence video and, if they are, if the clips are in the same order.

The system, as described, would be similar to YouTube’s Content ID system, however, Microsoft may be using the tool either as a standalone product or integrate it with another platform.

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