Mariah Carey Met With Pushback Over 'Queen of Christmas' Trademark Attempt
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Other singers are displeased with the Christmas crooner's attempt to monopolize the title.
The so-called "Queen of Christmas" is in hot water for her attempts to trademark the title, thus barring anyone else from using the phrase.
Some singers are pushing back against the move, upset over Mariah Carey's apparent attempt to monopolize the holiday. According to the United States Patent and Trademark Office, Carey first filed the application in early 2021 for use on a variety of products, including fragrances, food and beer, bags, and much more, as well as in audiovisual material and live musical performances. The application was published for opposition on July 12, 2022, and the opposition delivered.
Elizabeth Chan spoke out first, chatting with Variety after her legal team filed an opposition to the trademark application on Thursday, August 11. Chan, who released an album titled Queen of Christmas in 2021, only records Christmas songs and has been doing so for over a decade.
"Christmas has come way before any of us on Earth, and hopefully will be around way after any of us on Earth," Chan told the publication. "And I feel very strongly that no one person should hold onto anything around Christmas or monopolize it in the way that Mariah seeks to in perpetuity." The singer believes Christmas is meant to be shared with everyone—not owned—and also says she's looking out for small businesses with the move.
"If you knit a 'queen of Christmas' sweater, you should be able to sell it on Etsy to somebody else so they can buy it for their grandma. It's crazy — it would have that breadth of registration," she pointed out.
Chan told the publication that it was the media that first started using the title "queen of Christmas" for her in 2014 and that it picked up steam after The New Yorker profiled her in 2018. Chan also drew attention to previous interviews where Carey resisted the moniker when others bestowed it upon her.
Meanwhile, Darlene Love, another title-holder, took to Facebook to express her opposition. "Is it true that Mariah Carey trade marked 'Queen of Christmas'?" she wrote, asking if that meant she could no longer use it. "David Letterman officially declared me the Queen of Christmas 29 years ago, a year before she released 'All I want For Christmas Is You,'" she pointed out.
At 81 years old, with 52 years in the business under her belt, Love said she's not changing a thing. "[I've] earned it and can still hit those notes!" she said, before inviting Mariah to call Letterman or Love's lawyer if she had a problem with that.
She later commented, in part, "...just to clarify, I've always loved and respected Mariah as an artist. She's a brilliant songwriter and singer. I just don't agree with her trade marking 'The Queen Of Christmas'. There are so many talented artists who also deserve this title…"
The singer went on to list several others, including her goddaughter Whitney Houston, Ronnie Spector, Ella Fitzgerald, Kelly Clarkson, and more, assuring other commenters that she was not declaring herself the queen.
This isn't Carey's first spot of trouble this year. In June, the singer was hit with a copyright infringement lawsuit over nearly-30-year-old holiday track "All I Want For Christmas Is You."
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