Can the idea of a 'professional heckler' be copyright?

A comedian has demanded £10,000 from Comic Relief in compensation for alleged plagiarism – even though the contested sketch bears little relation to his own work.

Alias Cummins fired off a letter to the charity claiming an 'intellectual property dispute' over the Hecklers Anonymous skit that was broadcast during the Red Nose Day telethon.

The short mockumentary involved Rebecca Front leading a group therapy session in which 'professional hecklers' insulted each other as they tried to combat their problem. It also featured Russell Brand and Frankie Boyle, and included a brainstorming session in which the hecklers tried to come up with new things to shout at performers:

Cummins claimed it was 'clearly based' on his character Bob Hecklestein, or The Heckler – which he has performed on stage and on various online videos since 2014.

Rather than interrupting another comedian's set, he usually rants about current events such as the 2015 general election or the Hatton Garden Jewellery Heist. Ironically, given that he's alleging copyright breach, Cummins seems to have modelled Hecklestien on The Joker, with badly applied clown whiteface and green suit jacket and similarly manic delivery style.

Cummins claimed that the BBC sketch would make it 'very difficult for me to continue to perform this character' and told Chortle that the term 'professional heckler' was what was was in dispute

BBC Studios, which made the telethon and dealt with the comic's complaints, said that no one involved in the sketch had seen his work before.

In a letter rejecting his complaints, which Chortle has seen, the legal affairs department said that the Comic Relief script and skit 'bear little resemblance to your videos beyond completely superficial similarities'.

They pointed out that heckling has long been a topic for comedy, and that simply featuring a heckler was not an original idea – and the generic concept of a heckler character could not in any case be copyrighted.

The letter added that Red Nose Day script featured heckling as its usually considered, in contrast to Hecklestein's angry diatribes  – and said the two bore 'no similarity of substance not only in terms of script, but also of tone, style and delivery'.

Cummins told Chortle: 'My issue is the "professional heckler" aspects of the BBC sketch – the guy does it for a living, which is not a widely used premise prior to 2014.'

'I'm a writer, and this is about protecting the integrity of a character. The real issue here is attribution of work, and the BBC acting as a monopoly to crush upcoming talent. I'm sure this happens to many, many comedians, and I think it's time to take a stand.'

He insisted people who work for Comic Relief had 'definitely' seen his character and that his complaint 'was not about money… £10,000 is simply a figure which is used by producers to quantify the value of one minute of scripted comedy that as been commissioned, and broadcast, by a television network.'

A TV comedy might indeed typically cost £10,000 a minute, including all the cast, crew, production and post-production costs.

Cummins has this week been approved by the Official Monster Raving Loony Party to stand as a candidate against Diane Abbott in Hackney, East London. He will use the name Gibbering Lord Cummins if he can get together the £500 deposit.

The BBC has been approached for comment.