Activision is facing a copyright infringement suit brought by writer, photographer, and videographer Clayton Haugen, who alleges that the Call of Duty: Modern Warfare character Mara is based on a character Cade Janus, a female soldier which he created in 2017 for November Renaissance, a story that he hoped to build into a feature film. The character, named Cade Janus, is a female soldier.
Haugen hired a Twitch streamer and model named Alex Zedra in 2017 to be Janus’ likeness and even did photoshoots of her in character to present his story to film studios.In 2019, during Call of Duty: Modern Warfare’s season one, Mara was released as a DLC Operator in the game. And guess who was the full body model for Mara? Alex Zedra.
“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,” lawyers wrote in the complaint. “
Haugen alleges that Activision Blizzard and Infinity Ward required the model and makeup artist to sign non-disclosure agreements to “conceal their planned infringement.”
Haugen’s representatives claim that the copying of Janus to create Mara “was deliberate, intentional, and comprehensive.” The suit says that Activision even used Haugen’s photographs “as guides” for how to frame its own images and hired the same talent (Zedra) to portray Mara according to Polygon.
The lawsuit, which names Activision Publishing, Activision Blizzard, Infinity Ward, and the Activision Blizzard-owned Major League Gaming, seeks “to recover all monetary remedies from Defendants’ infringement, including all of their profits attributable to their infringements,” plus legal fees and other costs.