Activision accused of ripping off Call of Duty character

[Cicada 5]

The creator of a character called “Cade Janus”, developed as part of a film pitch, is taking Activision, Infinity Ward and Major League Gaming to court, accusing them of going behind his back and stealing the character for use in Call of Duty: Modern Warfare.




As Torrentfreak report, Clayton Haugen claims that he created the character years ago, and went so far as to work with streamer Alex Zedra to bring Janus to life.


Haugen’s suit alleges that, while trying to draw attention to his work by publishing it on social media, Activision and some partners became aware of the character and actively worked to get her into the game, changing her name to “Mara” and going so far as to (this is directly from the filing):

a. Used Haugen’s Cade Janus Photographs as guides for how to frame their own imaging and photographs
b. Hired the same talent who had posed for Haugen’s Cade Janus Photographs
c. Asked the talent to ask Haugen for the same clothing and gear that she wore when he created the Cade Janus Photographs
d. Hired the same makeup professional who prepared the talent for Haugen’s Cade Janus Photographs
e. Directed her to do the talent’s makeup exactly as she had for Haugen’s Cade Janus Photographs
f. Directed her to style the talent’s hair exactly as she had for Haugen’s Cade Janus Photographs, even using the same hair piece extension, and then
g. Photographed and three-dimensionally scanned the talent using Haugen’s Cade Janus Photographs as a guide.

Haugen’s suit is also full of photographs comparing his original photoshoot with Activision’s promotional material for Call of Duty featuring “Mara”

Activision Accused Of Stealing Call Of Duty Character

The creator of a character called “Cade Janus”, developed as part of a film pitch, is taking Activision, Infinity Ward and Major League Gaming to court, accusing them of going behind his back and stealing the character for use in Call of Duty: Modern Warfare.

kotaku.com

 

[BrawlMan]

I did not expect this. Video games have been using celebrity likeness or knock offs for years, but there is a reason why that practice fell out over the years. I don't know what's going to happen, but best luck to the person suing them. It's Activision, so fuck them.

 

[laggyteabag]

Usually I find lawsuits like this to be frivolous cash grabs, but this is one insane coincidence, if Activision is truly innocent.

Curious to see how Activision argues against this.

 

[hanselthecaretaker]

It’s pretty obvious which one is the CoD knock-off.

It’s the one trying to look “badass” and posing with a weapon like she’s holding a teddy bear.

 

[CriticalGaming]

I dunno, I think generic action shooter-girl is a pretty basic thing for Call of Duty to have just come up with. Unless the person can prove that they copied personality and story-beats related to the original character.

Otherwise this seems pretty frivolous.

Just looking at the pictures, the outfit isn't the same, the face is different, the tattoos are different (the real image looks like her right hand is covered in blood not a tattoo), the gun is different.

I mean both girls look like generic girl badass soldier 101, so I don't really know what argument can be made. Even if they created another original character based on the look from the first picture I don't know that being inspired by a character is automatically infringement.

How many characters can you name that are just altered versions of movie characters, or real people? Fuck GTA does that shit all the time and I believe even got in trouble for putting a Lindsey Lohan-like character into a game, but they won the lawsuit because parody and artistic inspiration is protected and legal.

Seems dumb to me.

 

[hanselthecaretaker]

I dunno, I think generic action shooter-girl is a pretty basic thing for Call of Duty to have just come up with. Unless the person can prove that they copied personality and story-beats related to the original character.

Otherwise this seems pretty frivolous.

Just looking at the pictures, the outfit isn't the same, the face is different, the tattoos are different (the real image looks like her right hand is covered in blood not a tattoo), the gun is different.

I mean both girls look like generic girl badass soldier 101, so I don't really know what argument can be made. Even if they created another original character based on the look from the first picture I don't know that being inspired by a character is automatically infringement.

How many characters can you name that are just altered versions of movie characters, or real people? Fuck GTA does that shit all the time and I believe even got in trouble for putting a Lindsey Lohan-like character into a game, but they won the lawsuit because parody and artistic inspiration is protected and legal.

Seems dumb to me.

But if the notes of contention were legit that may give him a strong case. I mean, using the same actress for 3D scans of the characters seems kinda fishy right off the bat.

 

[Chimpzy]

I don't know who's right here, but I'm rooting for Activision to not win.

 

[CriticalGaming]

But if the notes of contention were legit that may give him a strong case. I mean, using the same actress for 3D scans of the characters seems kinda fishy right off the bat.

Yeah but you can't sue because you used the same actor in a different movie. If they paid this actress to be a 3d model, then obviously the character will look similar to the other character because it's the same girl. But that doesn't mean infringement. And the character model is obviously cleaned up and modified from the original woman.

Maybe it is, but if so, it's superficial and it will be one of those lawsuits where the big company pays out just to not have to deal with the bullshit.

 

[happyninja42]

It’s pretty obvious which one is the CoD knock-off.

It’s the one trying to look “badass” and posing with a weapon like she’s holding a teddy bear.

See, I would give that pose (the gun hugging) some shit, except I've seen SOOO many dudes literally doing that IRL. Since they have that "i'm hanging my gun from my chest so I can INSTANTLY shoot everyone around me!" setup, they will often just rest their hands on the gun like that. So I can't really give them too much shit for that. I mean, I can, because anyone that wears their weapon like that is a gunloving fuckwad that I don't give 2 shits about, but I mean, it's at least accurate. *shrugs*

 

[hanselthecaretaker]

See, I would give that pose (the gun hugging) some shit, except I've seen SOOO many dudes literally doing that IRL. Since they have that "i'm hanging my gun from my chest so I can INSTANTLY shoot everyone around me!" setup, they will often just rest their hands on the gun like that. So I can't really give them too much shit for that. I mean, I can, because anyone that wears their weapon like that is a gunloving fuckwad that I don't give 2 shits about, but I mean, it's at least accurate. *shrugs*

As someone who sounds very anti-gunloving fuckwad it begs the question, where have you been hanging out to see so much of such a practice?

 

[happyninja42]

As someone who sounds very anti-gunloving fuckwad it begs the question, where have you been hanging out to see so much of such a practice?

I've seen it plenty of times on news clips of people like the proud boys, and other alt right shitbags, in recent years. Of clips of them walking into a Wendy's or whatever with an AR-15. And in those various clips, there is almost always some chucklefuck standing to the side, with his hands just resting on the weapon like an armrest. Either resting on the butt of the gun, or the magazine, or some variation thereof. I assume it also some sort of "resting ready" as they can probably push with their hand on the butt to quickly pivot the weapon on it's harness to aim at someone and shoot them for 'Murica, but the end result is them just chilling out for extended periods of time with their hands resting on the weapon, hanging on their chests.

 

[Adam Jensen]

this seems pretty frivolous

It is. Even if Activision stole the character, how valuable could the character be? She's just a generic soldier lady. There's nothing interesting about her design.

 

[CriticalGaming]

It is. Even if Activision stole the character, how valuable could the character be? She's just a generic soldier lady. There's nothing interesting about her design.

Agreed. I dont even know which CoD this chick is even from. I have to assume it's the newest one.

 

[Wintermute]

That's like saying you came up with the 30 something white guy protagonist and you're going to sue every game company out there. Quiet from Metal Gear looks stupid but at least it's a unique design, this is just generic gun toting lady. I hope this guy wins anyway.

 

[Avnger]

As someone who sounds very anti-gunloving fuckwad it begs the question, where have you been hanging out to see so much of such a practice?

The lady doth protest too much, methinks

 

[Gordon_4]

I hope the Judge laughs this out of court as a frivolous suit. There’s nothing here that wouldn’t qualify as generic. It’s not like they’ve knocked off the design for Fem!Shep or Jaina Proudmoore or something.

 

[The Rogue Wolf]

Why can't someone sue Activision for everything else they've ripped off in Cawwa Doody?

 

[Gordon_4]

Why can't someone sue Activision for everything else they've ripped off in Cawwa Doody?

Like what? It’s genre fiction which usually has only the thinnest veneer of change required to be legally distinct

 

[Dalisclock]

I saw that and my reaction was pretty much "I didn't realize you could copyright 'Dirt covered girl with gun'." I mean, it's a concept so painfully generic it's not even funny. Just behind "Grizzled guy with gun" for unoriginially.

I'm sure some lawyer could prove otherwise but I'm not seeing how there's much of a case there.