Radiohead Accused Of Copyright Infringement For “Burn The Witch”

British genre-defying royalty Radiohead are in hot water after the music video for Burn the Witch has been accused of copyright infringement.

The video, directed by Chris Hopewell, is done in the stop-motion animation style of the 1960’s British children’s television show “Trumpton”. However, William Mollett, son-in-law of “Trumpton” creator Gordon Murray, doesn’t believe that the work is an homage, saying that the video is “tarnishing the brand”.

The original show was an innocent presentation of a fictional small town, far removed from the paganism and witchcraft of the video for the track from Radiohead’s new album “A Moon Shaped Pool”. In the video, a visitor to the town is confronted with gallows and a witch ducking stool before being burned alive in a wicker man.

Mollett said to The Daily Mail, “Radiohead should have sought [the creator’s] consent” and it wouldn’t have been something that they’d have authorised. He further stated, “We consider that there is a breach of copyright, and we are deciding what to do next”.

Mollett had refused to show the Radiohead video to the 95 year-old Murray, stating that he would be ‘appalled’. Neither Radiohead or Hopewell have commented at the time of publishing.

After a recent truckload of cases, such as Robin Thicke’s Blurred Lines and Men At Work’s Land Down Under, it is interesting to see a copyright infringement case for musicians that doesn’t involve ‘the groove’. AAA Backstage will keep on top of any developments.

Read our review of Radiohead’s new album “A Moon Shaped Pool” HERE and check out their other single Daydreaming, as well as some of their other antics HERE