CBS Secures Stephen Colbert Finale Music License Over $0 Deal
Stephen Colbert finale music license became real on Tuesday, June 16, when CBS reached a resolution with Lee Mendelson Film Productions after the final Late Show taping used “Linus and Lucy.” The deal gives CBS a license for the Peanuts song and sends the proceeds to World Central Kitchen.
Colbert had already turned the bit into a warning on air. During the final taping, he joked, “I hope this doesn’t cost CBS any money!” and added, “Anyone illegally using that music is going to have to pay through the nose.”
June 16 Deal Terms
Jason Mendelson said, “LMFP found the music’s use on The Late Show funny and entertaining, and is proud to support World Central Kitchen’s mission.” CBS also agreed to take a license for “Linus and Lucy,” which removes the immediate copyright exposure around the broadcast use and turns the episode into a paid use instead of a free one.
That outcome is notable because Lee Mendelson Film Productions had filed four infringement lawsuits last month. The company owns Vince Guaraldi’s music to A Charlie Brown Christmas and other Peanuts television specials, and it has said one principal goal of its enforcement actions is to educate individuals, businesses, and government entities about written license agreements for commercial music use.
The Final Taping Bit
Colbert made the joke in real time as the band kept playing. He asked, “Is the band right now playing the same Peanuts music I just said people were being sued for, for using without permission? Is that what you’re doing?” Louis Cato kept the song going, and Colbert followed with, “Oh no, I hope this doesn’t cost CBS any money!”
The social-media chatter that CBS may have already cleared the song or held a blanket license now reads as the wrong read. Tuesday’s resolution points the other way: no such deal appears to have been in place before the episode aired, and CBS had to settle the use after the fact.
World Central Kitchen
The money is headed to World Central Kitchen, giving the licensing fee a public-facing destination instead of leaving it as a private rights payment. For viewers, the practical result is simple: CBS has closed off the legal risk around the finale’s Peanuts cue, and the episode’s punch line now sits inside a paid licensing agreement.
For Colbert, whose 11-year run as Late Show host ended last month, the joke landed twice. It mocked the copyright problem before the deal existed, then aged into the exact commercial fix the song owner and CBS reached on June 16.
