The family of Trumpton creator Gordon Murray have lashed out at Radiohead’s latest music video for using a distinctive style of stop-motion animation and design elements which they say violate the copyright of the original television series. The video for the band’s latest single ‘Burn the Witch’, directed by Chris Hopewell, uses an animation style and idyllic township setting which closely parallel those of Trumpton as the jarring setting for a dark, violent narrative in which an outsider to the town is burnt alive inside a whicker man. Additionally, several of the character’s in Radiohead’s video appear to resemble much-loved familiars from the Trumpton series, including Mayor of Trumpton Windy Miller and florist Mrs Cobbit.

‘Tarnishing the brand’

Trumpton creator Mr Murray, now 95, has reportedly not seen Radiohead and Mr Hopewell’s dark reimagining of life in Trumptonville; his son-in-law, William Mollett, told The Daily Mail that he has refrained from showing ‘Burn the Witch’ to Mr Murray for fear he would be ‘appalled’ by the video. ‘Radiohead should have sought our consent and we consider this a tarnishing of the brand,’ Mr Mollett commented. ‘It is not something we would have authorised. We consider that there is a breach of copyright and we are deciding what to do next.’

Case complexities

The stylistic resemblances between Trumpton and Radiohead’s video are undeniably evident. However, as intellectual property expert and EIP associate solicitor Tristan Sherliker points out, the copyright case against the video may not be as clear-cut as it seems. ‘Radiohead has certainly created a video in the style of Trumpton; but there’s no copyright on style alone,’ explains Mr Sherliker. ‘It’s a plasticine animation and certainly there is stylistic overlap, such as the exaggerated way characters nod their heads to each other. But you cannot copyright nodding.’ Identifying clear points of ‘copying’, rather than just stylistic similarities, will be essential if a case for copyright infringement is to be made, he added.