A wrestler is suing Activision for allegedly copying his alter ego, turning it into a major character in the game "Black Ops 4."
Booker T. Huffman, a wrestler famously known as Booker T, filed a complaint at a Texas court against Activision for the latter's "illegal" act, The Verge reported. Huffman complained that the game company allegedly copied his alter-ego, G.I. Bro, from his comic book and turned him into David "Prophet" Wilkes, a specialist in Black Ops 4.
Huffman's copyright infringement complaint focuses on the visual resemblance between G.I. Bro and Prophet. The lawsuit, as seen in Scribd, places a photo of each character side by side for comparison. Both characters are dark-skinned and feature dreadlocks. Aside from that, it's up to the reader to decide if they do look the same.
It is worth mentioning that Huffman has two versions of G.I. Bro. The first one was the persona he created when he was still in his wrestling career. This G.I. Bro looked different from the photo, with crew cut hair and a face painted with camouflage.
Realizing that he could create characters that could go beyond the ring, he created a comic book based on the G.I. Bro persona. This new G.I. Bro is a retired special forces officer who, with help from his military friends, fights against an enemy he thought he had already finished off.
The new G.I. Bro character, which appears in the comic book "G. I. Bro and the Dragon of Death," is the one Huffman alleges to have been copied and turned into Prophet.
Interestingly, Black Ops 4 is a prequel, which means all characters in this installment are younger or prequel versions of those in Black Ops 3. Black Ops 4's Prophet is younger and still has hair -- very different to the Black Ops 3 Prophet that has a bald head and some mechanical upgrades to his body.
Huffman alleges that Activision copied his artwork without permission, stressing that the game company never made any deal with him or even had any interaction with him. He also said that he never authorized Activision to make derivatives of his artwork, and has never authorized them to distribute any derivatives of his artwork.
He further says that Activision has infringed his copyrights and that the game company should pay him for violating his rights.
Public reaction
While The Verge noted that some Redditors commented that G.I. Bro and Prophet do look alike, other Redditors say otherwise. At this point, it's up to the court to decide on the case.
Is Call of Duty: Black Ops Pro 4 character David "Prophet" Wilkes infringing on G.I. Bro's likeness? Booker T thinks so and is taking Activision to court over it. pic.twitter.com/j4iOvTYWp1 — Michael McClead (@McCleadWriter) February 13, 2019
