A film writer claims that Activision Blizzard stole his work to shape one of the characters of 2019’s Call of Duty: Modern Warfare.
The writer in question is Clayton Haugen, who is suing Activision Blizzard (who confirmed that Diablo IV and Overwatch 2 will not launch this year – we discussed the subject in detail earlier today), alleging that his concept images were used as a basis for Modern Warfare’s Mara. In 2017, he created a character named Cade Janus. Her „basis” was posted on his website, as well as his social media.
Later, Haugen hired Alex Zedra (an actress and cosplayer). We can see in this Instagram post that Zedra is wearing military gear. The image was posted on… August 8, 2018. When was Call of Duty: Modern Warfare released? (No, not the original CoD 4!) On October 25, 2019… Well, that is a good starting point. Haugen’s lawsuit alleges that Call of Duty’s developers (which in this case would be Infinity Ward, as they developed the 2019 title in the series) saw the images and employed the same actress and makeup artist as the basis for Mara.
Haugen also alleges that Activision Blizzard forced both Zadra and the makeup artist to sign NDAs (non-disclosure agreements) to cover up the infringement the publisher committed. The twist here is that Mara was NOT part of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare by default. Instead, she was added to the FPS game via the first battle pass, and since then, she received multiple „variations”. The complaint lays out similarities between Mara and Haugen’s character, and says Haugen is entitled to „recover all monetary remedies from Defendants’ infringement, including all of their profits attributable to their infringements, to the full extent permitted by 17 U.S.C. § 505.”
It’s not sure that Haugen can win this case. In April 2020, AM General’s lawsuit was dismissed – the company sued Activision Blizzard over trademark infringement for its use of Humvees in Call of Duty games.
Source: Gamesindustry
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