Lee Mendelson Film Productions, the family-owned company that controls the Vince Guaraldi music catalog associated with the Peanuts television specials, has filed four copyright infringement lawsuits in federal courts.
The suits, filed on Wednesday (May 20) in New York and Washington, D.C., target video game publisher GameMill Entertainment, auction house Heritage Auctions, accessories manufacturer Buckle-Down Inc., and the U.S. Department of the Interior.
LMFP says the legal actions are intended to halt what it describes as a pattern of unauthorized commercial use of Guaraldi‘s compositions – music that has been central to the Peanuts franchise since the 1965 television special A Charlie Brown Christmas.
