The owner of the music catalog that includes “A Charlie Brown Christmas” and other “Peanuts” television specials filed four lawsuits on Wednesday against three companies and the U.S. Department of the Interior, alleging they illegally used late pianist Vince Guaraldi’s work in social media posts and a video game.
Lee Mendelson Film Productions filed the suits in federal courts in New York and Washington, D.C., The Associated Press reported.
Peanuts Worldwide LLC, which owns the rights to Charlie Brown, Snoopy, Lucy and the other characters drawn by cartoonist Charles M. Schulz, is not a party in any of the lawsuits.
In addition to the Department of Interior, defendants in the case include Dallas-based Heritage Auctions; Buckle-Down Inc., a belt company out of Farmingdale, New York, that makes “Peanuts” themed products; and GameMill Entertainment, an Edina, Minnesota, a video game publisher that produced a “Peanuts”-themed video game in 2025.
In its complaint against the Interior Department, the plaintiff argued that the agency did not have permission to use Guaraldi’s arrangement of “O Tannenbaum” from “A Charlie Brown Christmas” in a digital holiday card that was posted to social media, the AP reported.
According to Bloomberg Law, links to the card posted to X, Facebook, TikTok, YouTube, and Instagram were removed weeks later. However, the card still is available online, Mendelson Film told the U.S. Court of Federal Claims in its complaint.
A spokesperson for the agency wrote in an email to the news organization that it does not comment on litigation.
The lawsuit against Heritage Auctions alleges that the auction house, which specializes in collectibles and sports memorabilia, illegally used “Linus and Lucy” -- the bouncy, upbeat song that the “Peanuts” characters dance to in “A Charlie Brown Christmas” -- in Facebook and Instagram posts promoting upcoming sales.
Heritage Auctions spokesperson Christina Rees wrote in an email to the AP that the company has not been served with or reviewed a complaint.
“If and when we receive it, we will review the allegations and respond as appropriate,” Rees wrote.
Similar claims of social media misuse were filed against Buckle-Down Inc.
According to the AP, the fourth lawsuit alleges that GameMill Entertainment, in its 2025 “Peanuts” video game “Snoopy & The Great Mystery Club,” violated copyright by using new music compositions “meant to invoke Guaraldi’s pieces.” The songs mentioned in the complaint included “Linus and Lucy” and “Skating,” and Lee Mendelson Film Productions argued that the copycat versions of the songs were too similar to the originals not to seek permission.
Mendelson Film was founded by Peanuts executive producer Lee Mendelson -- a longtime associate of Schulz -- in 1963, Bloomberg Law reported.
Mendelson died in 2019, according to the AP. Guaraldi passed away in 1976.
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