The creator of a character called ‘Cade Janus’, developed as part of a movie pitch, takes 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 Torrent freak reportClayton Haugen claims he created the character years ago and even teamed up with streamer Alex Zedra to bring Janus to life.
Haugens suit alleges that while Activision and some of its partners tried to draw attention to his work by publishing it on social media, they became aware of the character and actively worked to get her into the game, changing her name to ‘Mara’ and so far to go. as for (this comes straight from the submission):
a. Used Haugen’s Cade Janus photos as a guide for framing their own imagery and photos
b. The same talent assumed that had posed for Haugens Cade Janus Photographs
c. Asked the talent to ask Haugen for the same clothes and gear she wore when he shot the Cade Janus Photographs
d. Hired the same makeup professional who prepped the talent for Haugen’s Cade Janus Photographs
e. Dedicated her to do the talent’s makeup exactly as it did for Haugen’s Cade Janus Photographs
f. Told her to style the talent’s hair exactly as it did for Haugen’s Cade Janus Photographs, even with the same hairpiece extension, then
g. The talent was photographed and scanned three-dimensionally using Haugens Cade Janus Photographs as a guide.
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Haugen’s suit is also packed with photos comparing his original shoot to Activision’s Call of Duty promotional materials featuring “Mara”
What elevates this from a claim “they stole my art” to a copyright infringement seeking damages is that Haugen says he registered copyrights for his story in 2012-2013 and his photos in 2020.
He is seeking “to recover all funds from the defendants’ infringement, including all their profits attributable to their infringements,” along with recovering his costs and legal fees.