CALL of Duty’s publisher is being sued over one of the female characters in the extremely popular game.
Activision Blizzard is the video game company behind the brand and is now facing claims that it copied the design for female operator Mara.
Writer and photographer Clayton Haugen is filing a copyright infringement lawsuit against Activision Blizzard.
Haugen claims his design of a female character called Cade Janus was copied by the video game company when they designed Mara.
The lawsuit states that Janus was created to be a “distinct and multi-dimensional female protagonist” for one of Haugen’s stories called November Renaissance.
The angry photographer says he even created photos of the Cade Janus character so he could pitch November Renaissance to film studios.
Those images can still be seen on his Instagram.
The model in the photos is called Alex Zedra and Haugen says he based his character on her.
It turns out Activision Blizzard also hired Alex Zedra to play Mara for the Call of Duty video games.
Haugen even claims that the games developer put his pictures on the wall during a Call of Duty: Modern Warfare shoot.
Haugen’s photos and pictures of the Mara character have been filed in the lawsuit to show a side by side comparison.
The lawsuit also states: “In addition to hiring the same talent, they also hired the same makeup professional who had prepared the talent for Haugen’s Cade Janus Photographs.
“They instructed the makeup professional to prepare the talent exactly as she had done for Haugen’s Cade Janus Photographs.
“They instructed her to style the talent’s hair exactly as she had done for Haugen’s Cade Janus Photographs, even using the same hair piece extension.”
We have reached out to Activision Blizzard for comment.
