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Mariah Carey Christmas Queen trial: interview with Elizabeth Chan.
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Mariah Carey Christmas Queen trial: interview with Elizabeth Chan.

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Although Mariah Carey’s beloved 1994 hit “All I Want for Christmas Is You” is widely accepted as the most popular original contemporary Christmas song, Carey herself is not accepted as the musician of Dominant contemporary Christmas, at least not legally. After the singer trademarked her well-known “Christmas Queen” brand name in March 2021, other holiday queens, like Darlene Love, expressed their disapproval.

The most proactive of them, Elizabeth Chan, a former media executive-turned-singer who bills herself as the only full-time musician in the Christmas music genre, has filed to oppose Carey’s trademark attempts more early this year. On November 15, the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board sided with Chan, formally rejecting Carey’s attempt to hold court singularly over the holidays.

Slate sat down with Chan as the holiday season entered its final weeks, to fully understand what this win meant not only for the Christmas music genre, but also for our expression of holiday love in general. This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.

Nadira Goffe: When did you start using the phrase christmas queen?

Elizabeth Chan: Growing up, my grandmother was definitely the queen of Christmas. When you’re the most prolific artist in a certain genre, you’re either the queen of soul or the queen of jazz – and for me, I started being called the queen of Christmas in 2013-2014, after my second song on the radio. Every time I walked into a room, the radio executives were like, “Oh, that’s Elizabeth. She’s the Queen of Christmas! She only does Christmas music. I mean, I have emails from my entire career [of] people introduce me as the queen of Christmas, because even though it’s March, even though it’s April, I still make Christmas music. You know what I mean? It doesn’t just turn off. No, it’s been my lifelong commitment for 12 years now. I literally gave up on everything, and everyone who works with me knows that I’m someone who’s so committed to the genre of music I’m into. As a Christmas musician, there are very few places where I can… I mean, I won’t be participating in the American Music Awards. I will never have the same kind of accolades that other artists might have.

What made you decide to challenge Mariah Carey’s mark on christmas queen? And how was this process for you?

I never wanted to be in the position I was forced into this year.

And what position was it?

I am not a procedural person. All we have is time when it comes to following our dream. And when I found out that Mariah Carey had filed a trademark application, that meant all the time I spent, all the accolades of others, would have been erased. Many people think it was a me vs mariah thing, but it wasn’t. It’s not about that at all. It was a Mariah against everyone thing. Because what she was actually taking away was even your right to call me Christmas Queen, or your right to call anyone else Christmas Queen.

The Queen of Christmas is a generational thing. Even before me there was Brenda Lee, there is Darlene Love, and after me there will be someone. No one is queen forever, not even Queen Elizabeth. Someone was trying to outright own a term in the public domain that a lot of people have used for so many, many reasons and are entitled to call whoever they want to call Christmas Queen. And what she wanted was to stop that.

She was going to stop time. No one after her. I mean, it’s not fair.

What does mean queen mean to you?

So for me, being the queen of Christmas doesn’t mean you’re wearing a crown on your head. It does not mean that you are the richest and most famous person in the world. Being queen means you give to people and bring people together during the holiday season. That’s what it means to me. It’s not how much you have; it’s how much you give that makes you known as a queen.

So how hard was it for you to stop this attempt to trademark the term?

I had no idea what I was going to do. I had no idea of ​​the process. I literally called dozens and dozens of lawyers and they were like, “Well, this is going to be a two to three year process and trial, and it’s going to cost you at least $200,000 to $250 $000, minimum.” It’s for one point. And there were four that I objected to: christmas queen, Princess Christmas, QCCand christmas princess. It’s a million dollars.

But do you know how general these terms are? My daughter was known as the Princess of Christmas because she was born into my world. [Chan’s daughter, aptly named Noelle, is self-credited as the “youngest Christmas songwriter ever to get one of her songs played on the radio” and inspired an upcoming book by Chan, titled The Princess of Christmas.] I literally had an Excel spreadsheet where I just collected the names of lawyers and called them and just crossed them off the list, until the very last call was my friend, who was a professor at the University from Boston. And I called him up and said, “Hey, do you think your students can help me file a petition just to save me some time?” I have to do something called opposing a mark. And what he did was he asked his law firm if he could represent me for free.

He knew that [Carey winning] would be detrimental not only to my career, but also to the future of Christmas and Christmas culture. Mark the word Christmas is tricky in the way she had filed so many courses and so many products. She was asking for hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of things. Hundreds, not tens. So in theory if someone wanted to make a dog collar [with QOC or any of the marks on it] and she decided, “Well, I don’t know, I don’t think you should do that,” she could put you on trial for two years. Any trademark owner could take you to court to settle it. Most small businesses would lose out because they couldn’t afford the kind of litigation they could. [In addition to dog collars, the filings also included oddball items such as various milks (including dairy-free versions), massage oils, and eyeglasses/sunglasses.]

You mentioned your identity as an Asian woman, and I can’t help but notice that Christmas music is a small area. How does your identity impact your position within Christmas music and your decision to fight the brand?

Totally. I mean, I’m half Filipino, half Chinese, but I’m an all American girl [who grew up in the States]. And it was only when I went to the Philippines [that I] realized that as Filipinos, there is no harm in listening to Christmas music from September to January. It’s very culturally acceptable to do that, isn’t it? And also, being Filipino and having this huge faith and believing in better days is part of our culture. I mean, it’s indoctrinated in our culture to always be helpful to others and to help others and to treat others with kindness. It’s part of who we are.

My godparents were Italian and Greek; I went to Quaker school; I grew up celebrating so many bar and bat mitzvahs. For me, the holiday season and Christmas are not just about your religion, class or creed. They are for everyone. Christmas belongs to all who believe in the holiday spirit. And so I think that had a huge impact on why someone like me would be so committed to Christmas music in a way that others aren’t. That’s something I want is to be able to remind people during the most beautiful time of the year to remember what matters most: love, family, home, togetherness. I don’t think there are enough posts about this. And Christmas music is really that kind of music that allows us to tear down our walls and celebrate those things. Everyone is ready to be open to hear the message during this time. While 330 days a year we are not.

What frustrates you about the story of your “fight” with Mariah Carey?

One of the most frustrating things is that everyone thinks I’m trying to compete with someone I’ve never competed with. What I was trying to do was protect Christmas. You know, this is not a contest. It’s about protecting Christmas.

And if it was someone else, I probably would have done the same. You know what I mean? Because it has nothing to do with her. I think what I really want to clarify is that it’s not about me versus anybody. It’s about me to Christmas.

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