WASHINGTON, D.C. — Lee Mendelson Film Productions filed four copyright-infringement lawsuits Wednesday in federal courts in New York and Washington, D.C., against the U.S. Department of the Interior, video game publisher GameMill Entertainment, Heritage Auctions, and belt-maker Buckle-Down Inc. The complaints allege unauthorized use of jazz pianist Vince Guaraldi's music from the Peanuts television specials.

One lawsuit argues that the Interior Department did not have permission to use Guaraldi's arrangement of "O Tannenbaum" from "A Charlie Brown Christmas" in a digital holiday card posted to social media. A second alleges that Heritage Auctions used "Linus and Lucy" in posts on Facebook and Instagram promoting an auction of collectibles without permission. A third alleges that Buckle-Down Inc., which makes Peanuts-themed belts, used Guaraldi's music in social media posts without permission.

The fourth lawsuit alleges that GameMill Entertainment used new music compositions in its 2025 video game Snoopy & The Great Mystery Club meant to invoke Guaraldi's pieces including "Linus and Lucy" and "Skating" without permission. The plaintiffs said no permission was sought for the music and that the new compositions are too similar to the originals to not require permission. Lee Mendelson Film Productions is seeking at least $300,000 in damages from GameMill Entertainment, and an injunction in each case to stop the alleged copyright violations immediately and prevent their repetition.

The Burlingame, California, company filed the lawsuits citing what it described as widespread unauthorized digital use of Guaraldi's music. Attorney Marc Jacobson said, "We will no longer tolerate companies using their property without a license, especially in this era of instant digital sharing." Jacobson added, "The rights of creators and the protection of iconic cultural assets must be vigorously enforced."

Heritage Auctions representative Christina Rees addressed the filing in a statement. "At this time, Heritage has not been served with or reviewed the complaint. If and when we receive it, we will review the allegations and respond as appropriate," Rees said.

Peanuts Worldwide LLC, which owns the rights to Charlie Brown, Snoopy, and other characters, is not a party to any of the lawsuits. Lee Mendelson Film Productions was founded by producer Lee Mendelson, who collaborated with Charles Schulz and Bill Melendez to create television specials based on Schulz's comic strip, starting with the 1965 special "A Charlie Brown Christmas."

Mendelson hired Guaraldi, a San Francisco jazz pianist whose song "Cast Your Fate to the Wind" won a Grammy, to provide music for the specials, including "Christmas Time Is Here" and "Linus and Lucy." Mendelson died in 2019.