U.S. Interior Department settles for $20,000 over unlicensed Peanuts music in holiday card

The U.S. Department of the Interior will pay $20,000 to Lee Mendelson Film Productions, the publishing-rights owner of Vince Guaraldi's Peanuts scores, for using 'O Tannenbaum' from A Charlie Brown Christmas in a digital holiday card posted to social media without a synch license — the permission required to pair music with visual content. The Aug. 3 agreement also lets LMFP flag future federal infringement to the DOJ's intellectual property division.