One of the funniest copyright “disputes” in recent memory has reached an amicable, dare we say charming, end: CBS has agreed to a licensing agreement, which will be donated to charity, after Stephen Colbert purposefully played one of Vince Guaraldi’s famous Peanuts tunes on the final episode of The Late Show without permission.
Lee Mendelson Film Productions, Inc. (LMFP), which owns the rights to Guaraldi’s television and film catalog, confirmed the news in a statement shared with Rolling Stone. LMFP will donate the proceeds from the agreement to the World Central Kitchen, the nonprofit founded by star chef José Andrés, which provides food relief in conflict zones and during humanitarian crises.
The exact sum of the fee/donation was not revealed. But it will be the second donation to the World Central Kitchen to emerge from the end of The Late Show: On the penultimate episode, Colbert presented the nonprofit with $2.5 million on behalf of the outgoing late-night institution.
Colbert foisted this good deed upon his now-ex employer during an installment of his “Meanwhile…” segment on The Late Show finale. After noting that LMFP had recently filed several lawsuits over unauthorized uses of Guaraldi’s music from “A Charlie Brown Christmas” and other Peanuts TV specials, Colbert looked straight in the camera and said, “Peanuts is a powerful brand and corporation in and of itself. Anyone illegally using that music is going to have to pay through the nose.…”
As he was speaking, The Late Show band, Louis Cato and the Great Big Joy Machine, started playing “Linus and Lucy.” Asking his bandleader if they were, in fact, playing the same music he “just said people were being sued for,” Cato gleefully replied, “Yeah, that’s what we’re doing,” as the band played on.
“Oh, no, I hope this doesn’t cost CBS any money,” Colbert deadpanned.
Though definitely unauthorized, LMFP chairman Jason Mendelson said in a statement that the company found Colbert’s use of “Linus and Lucy” “funny and entertaining.” He added that they were “proud to support World Central Kitchen’s mission,” and said, “A principal goal of our enforcement actions is to educate individuals, businesses, and government entities about the need to obtain written license agreements to use music in a commercial setting.”
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