LOS ANGELES (AP) — The proprietor of the music of “A Charlie Brown Christmas” and different “Peanuts” tv specials filed 4 lawsuits Wednesday in opposition to defendants together with the U.S. Department of the Interior, alleging they illegally used the jazzy ditties of pianist Vince Guaraldi in social media posts and a online game.
Lee Mendelson Movie Productions filed the fits in federal courts in New York and Washington, D.C. The defendants additionally embody a online game firm, an public sale home and a belt-maker.
One lawsuit argues the Inside Division didn’t have permission to make use of Guaraldi’s association of “O Tannenbaum” from “A Charlie Brown Christmas” in a digital vacation card posted to social media.
The division stated in an e mail to The Related Press that it doesn’t touch upon litigation. E-mail messages searching for feedback from the opposite defendants weren’t instantly answered.
One other lawsuit alleges Heritage Auctions illegally used “Linus and Lucy” — the beloved non-Christmas track the youngsters dance to in “A Charlie Brown Christmas” that has grow to be the de facto “Peanuts” theme — in posts on Fb and Instagram selling an public sale of collectibles. Comparable claims of social media misuse are available one other swimsuit in opposition to Buckle-Down Inc., a belt firm that makes “Peanuts” themed merchandise.
Lee Mendelson Movie Productions of Burlingame, California, was based by and is called for the producer who collaborated with “Peanuts” creator Charles Schulz and director Invoice Melendez to create the TV specials based mostly on Schulz’s caricature, beginning with 1965’s “A Charlie Brown Christmas.” Mendelson, who died in 2019, employed the jazz pianist Guaraldi to supply the mellow, usually melancholy music, together with “Christmas Time Is Right here” and “Linus and Lucy.”
The corporate determined to take the sweeping motion after what they stated was turning into an insupportable digital glut of unfair use of the music.
Legal professional Marc Jacobson stated in an announcement that Lee Mendelson Movie Productions “will not tolerate firms utilizing their property and not using a license, particularly on this period of prompt digital sharing.” He stated “the rights of creators and the safety of iconic cultural belongings should be vigorously enforced.”
Peanuts Worldwide LLC, which owns the rights to Charlie Brown, Snoopy and the opposite characters, will not be a celebration in any of the lawsuits.
The fourth swimsuit alleges online game writer GameMill Leisure, in its 2025 “Peanuts” online game Snoopy & The Nice Thriller Membership, violated copyright by utilizing new music compositions meant to invoke Guaraldi’s items together with “Linus and Lucy” and “Skating.” The plaintiffs stated no permission was hunted for the music, and the copycat variations are too near the originals to not require it.
Lee Mendelson Movie Productions is searching for various monetary damages from the completely different defendants, together with at the least $300,000 from GameMill. And in each case, the plaintiff is searching for a decide’s injunction that the alleged copyright violations instantly cease and never be repeated.
Andrew Dalton, The Related Press
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