Booker T loses ‘Call of Duty’ copyright suit
A Texas jury yesterday, June 24, cleared Activision Blizzard of infringing former pro wrestler Booker T’s copyright in its “Call of Duty: Black Ops 4” video game.
Booker T Huffman had claimed promotional materials for the video game copied his “G.I. Bro” persona, originally featured in a comic book.
Activision Blizzard had released posters promoting “Black Ops 4” ahead of its 2018 release, featuring a character from the video game which Booker T claimed was visually similar to “G.I. Bro”.
A judge at the US District Court for the Eastern District of Texas had ruled earlier this month that the case would go to trial, granting Booker T’s request to have his case heard by a jury.
Booker T successfully convinced Judge Roy Payne that he had a right to a jury trial in a case where he was looking to recover lost profits from an alleged infringer. Despite that loss, the jury has now found that Activision didn’t infringe the wrestler’s copyright.
Activison argued throughout the case that Booker T didn’t have sufficient evidence it copied a poster he used to promote the “G.I. Bro and the Dragon of Death” comic book. The wrestler contended that Activision employees had attended Comic-Con events where he displayed the poster. Payne had deemed this evidence sufficient to create a genuine dispute of material fact, denying Activision’s 2019 motion for summary judgment on the claims.
The video game publisher also argued that it had created the “Call of Duty” character in question independently, and denied it was “strikingly similar” to Booker T’s persona. But Payne again said this was a matter for a jury, finding that the characters “clearly share similarities and potentially even have striking similarities”.
Elsewhere, Activision is facing claims that another installment in the “Call of Duty” series infringed a freelance artist’s copyright with the “Mara” character from 2019’s “Modern Warfare”. That complaint, filed at the same court in February, claims Activision’s copying of Clayton Haugen’s work was “deliberate, intentional and comprehensive”.
Did you enjoy reading this story? Sign up to our free daily newsletters and get stories sent like this straight to your inbox
