Owner of 'Peanuts' music sues Trump administration for using scores without permission
Source: The Independent
Thursday 21 May 2026 08:20 EDT
The owner of the music used in “Peanuts” television specials has filed lawsuits against several defendants, including the Trump administration, alleging that it illegally used the tunes in social media posts and a game.
Lee Mendelson Film Productions, which owns the copyright to “A Charlie Brown Christmas” and other shows, filed the suits in federal courts in New York and Washington, D.C. Wednesday.
One lawsuit argues the Interior Department did not have permission to use pianist Vince Guaraldi's arrangement of "O Tannenbaum" from "A Charlie Brown Christmas" in a digital holiday card posted to social media. The Independent has contacted the Interior Department for comment on the lawsuit.
Lee Mendelson Film Productions, which is based in California, was founded by and is named for the producer who collaborated with “Peanuts” creator Charles Schulz and director Bill Melendez to create the TV specials based on Schulz’s iconic comic strip. This began starting with “A Charlie Brown Christmas” in 1965.
Read more: https://www.the-independent.com/news/world/americas/peanuts-music-trump-administration-lawsuit-b2981141.html
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But I also have what is cute and hilarious (but for charity) are the vinyls of "A Philly Special Christmas", done by 3 Eagles - Lane Johnson, Jordon Mailata, and Jason Kelce -
(they recorded 2 more that I bought)
I think my sister had this (which had their infamous Christmas song) -
I eventually got drawn to one of the reboot series (that were live action/animated films) where the son of Ross Bagdasarian (who voiced "Dave Seville" ) reprised his father's series but voicing (and singing as) "Alvin". They updated to "Hip Hop".
Of course that was because I went to an all-girls school, established 1879! 
