A photographer, author, and filmmaker is suing Activision Blizzard. It concerns the operator Mara from Call of Duty: Modern Warfare from 2019. Allegedly, Activision stole the character’s idea from the author – including the appearance and even the woman it represents.
Who is the operator? The operator Mara was introduced with Season 1 of Modern Warfare and served not only as a new playable character but also as the face of the season. She was used to promote the game.
In the game, she is from Venezuela and is a former CIA agent with a strong character and tough demeanor. Her actress is model, cosplayer, and streamer Alex Zedra, whose real name is Alex Rogers (via instagram).
Now there are claims that Mara does not originate from Call of Duty at all. The entire idea of the character and her appearance is alleged to have been copied. In fact, she is supposed to be “Cade Janus,” a film character.
Who is Cade Janus? Cade Janus was supposed to be the protagonist in the film “November Renaissance” and was allegedly created by Cayden Haugen. Haugen describes himself as a writer, photographer, and videographer.
Haugen reportedly copyrighted his story in 2012 and 2013 and had a photoshoot for Cade Janus in 2017 – also with Alex Zedra as the model (via TorrentFreak). With the photos and his story, he pitched his film to various studios.
“November Renaissance” has not yet been released. The planned film has a Kickstarter campaign (via Kickstarter), but the official website and the Facebook page are currently inaccessible (January 4, 2021).
Dispute over Mara in Modern Warfare
This is what Activision allegedly did: According to the lawsuit, Activision supposedly not only “stole” the actress but also the entire idea of Cade Janus to implement it in the form of Mara. The charges include:
- that Alex Zedra embodies exactly the same role
- allegations that the make-up artist was supposed to make Zedra identical
- the character idea – both Mara and Janus are tough, female fighters
- that Zedra even asked Haugen if she could borrow the same costumes she wore for his shoot
Haugen claims that photos of Janus were supposed to be hung in Activision’s office so that designers could use them as inspiration while creating Mara.
To prevent the copyright infringement from being discovered, those involved are said to have signed a non-disclosure agreement.
The lawsuit targets both Activision and developer Infinity Ward as well as Major League Gaming and demands that “all financial damages” be reimbursed to Haugen.
What happens now? The outcome of the lawsuit is still pending, and it is still being fought over what will follow. There has been no reaction from Activision or Haugen on this topic yet.
The studio itself seems to be doing quite well in the meantime. In January, Activision was able to record a peak stock price: The stock market loves Activision Blizzard, valued at $73 billion.
