Vince Guaraldi heirs sue Concord Music

The children of the late jazz pianist Vince Guaraldi, creator of the enduring holiday album "A Charlie Brown Christmas," have sued Concord Music Group, claiming the label has shortchanged them on more than $2 million in royalties. David and Dia Guaraldi's breach of contract action filed Dec. 23 in Alameda County Superior Court alleges that Concord and Fantasy Records, which was purchased by Concord in 2004, underpaid royalties "for years and perhaps decades." Echoing allegations of several recent actions -- the most recent of them filed last week by Peter Frampton and the heir of the Knack's drummer Bruce Gary (Daily Variety, Dec. 27) -- the suit also claims Concord "has impermissibly and without justification reduced the royalty paid on sales of digital downloadsby third parties." The filing states, "Particularly with regard to the 'Charlie Brown Christmas' albumFantasy Records issued statements containing false or deceptive representations and underpaid plaintiffs based on those inaccurate and incomplete accountings." "A Charlie Brown Christmas," which contains the yuletide hit "Christmas Time Is Here" and several recurring "Peanuts" cartoon themes, remains among the perennial holiday bestsellers. It stands at No. 37 on this week's U.S. album chart; according to Nielsen SoundScan, the collection has sold more than 3.1 million copies since the company began tracking sales in 1991. Action claims that royalty rates on record sales were "inaccurately low (at times, by as much as 70%)." Guaraldi was typically paid 50% of label receipts from third-party licensees. But, the suit says, "In calculating royalty rates on third party digital downloads, (Concord) has reduced by an additional 25% the already much lower royalty rate that would be payable on records sold by Concord Music's distributors." A Concord spokesman declined comment on the suit. Contact the Variety newsroom at news@variety.com