My wonderful friend Jewel Shepard called my attention to this news item. Here's an excerpt for those of you who lack the strength to click on that link…
Stephen Colbert has stuck CBS with the bill after he used the Peanuts TV specials' theme song without permission during The Late Show's finale.
The network struck a deal to pay an undisclosed amount to Lee Mendelson Film Productions Inc., after Colbert's house band played composer Vince Guaraldi's famous song "Linus and Lucy" during the late night show's last-ever episode, according to Variety.
During the May 21 finale, the show/s band Louis Cato and the Great Big Joy Machine began to perform "Linus and Lucy" while Colbert spoke about how the owners of the Peanuts catalog had been cracking down on copyrights for the Guaraldi song catalog.
"Anyone illegally using that music is gonna have to pay through the nose," Colbert explained. As his band played the song, he then joked, "Oh no! I hope this doesn't cost CBS any money!"
And it goes on to say that Jason Mendelson, the chairman of his late father's company, arranged for CBS to pay the fee as a donation to World Central Kitchen, a non-profit food relief organization that Colbert and his show have supported.
I knew Lee Mendelson and I know Jason…and Jason did exactly what his father would have done.