songwriters Seth Swirsky and Warryn Campbell filed a copyright infringement lawsuit against Carey claiming that "Thank God I Found You" borrowed heavily from the song "One of Those Love Songs" they composed for R&B group Xscape. Though initially the case was dismissed, in the precedent-setting Swirsky v. Carey decision, which clarified the standard for proving copyright infringement, the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit overturned the initial 2002 dismissal of the case. The case was settled out of court in April 2006. Background and recording Carey and her husband, Tommy Mottola, who was a Sony Music executive, separated in 1997. This resulted in a strained relationship with Sony. By the spring of 1999, Carey had begun work on her last album of her contract with Columbia Records, titled Rainbow. Her relationship with Sony had affected her collaboration with writing partner Walter Afanasieff, who had worked with her throughout the first half of her career. As a result, she worked extensively with many other songwriters and producers for the album, including the duo Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis (known for their work with Janet Jackson), with whom Carey co-wrote and co-produced "Thank God I Found You". When Jam and Lewis first started working with Carey, they did not have a definite idea of what Carey expected from them. In an interview with Fred Bronson, Jam and Lewis explained: It wasn't like Janet [Jackson], where we all grew up together. Mariah had done her own thing and had been very involved with the arranging and production of her records, so we respected that and said, 'What can we do for you?' She would fly into town for five or six hours. She'd get on a plane and fly to whatever was the next thing she was doing. One night, Jam and Lewis received a call from Carey's assistant telling them that Carey had an idea for a song. She asked them to meet her at the studio later that night, and when they arrived, Carey sang the song's melody for them. Normally when Carey was composing songs, James "Big Jim" Wright would play the chords. He was not present at the studio that night, so Lewis played the chords for Carey. After composing the melody, Carey recorded her vocals. When Carey requested male singers to sing along with her on the track, Jam and Lewis recruited R&B singer Joe.