Did Call of Duty: Black Ops 4 simply copy a foreign character for the design of the specialist Prophet? This view is held by former WWE superstar Booker T, who is now filing a lawsuit.
What happened? After several class action lawsuits against Activision due to the separation from Bungie, another one has emerged – this time regarding Black Ops 4.
The former WWE superstar Booker T. Huffman, alias “Booker T,” sees his rights violated in the design of a Black Ops 4 character and has now filed a copyright lawsuit against the publisher.
What is this legal dispute about? Booker T is likely a well-known name to many wrestling fans. He was a prominent figure in the world of professional wrestling for more than 10 years.
Before he rose to fame in WWE, he was active in another wrestling organization. However, there he wasn’t known as Booker T, but as the military character G.I. Bro.
This alter ego has been immortalized by Booker T as a comic character after his active wrestling career. To promote the comics, he appeared at numerous events as G.I. Bro and has secured the copyright to the artwork and the comics.
And it is from his G.I. Bro character that Black Ops 4 seems to have heavily borrowed in designing the specialist Prophet. To support his accusation, Huffman has attached a comparison image to his lawsuit, showing G.I. Bro and Prophet from Black Ops 4 side by side.
The lawsuit states: “When seen next to each other, there is no doubt that Activision copied the character G.I. Bro. From the hair, body structure, and clothing to the facial expression, the similarities are too strong to be mere coincidence.”
However, Booker T would never have allowed the use or reproduction of his G.I. Bro figure or any of the content from his comics. There has been no contact or request. Therefore, he is now suing. It is currently unknown what amount is involved.
What are the chances of the lawsuit? It is currently difficult to assess – even though the similarity to Booker T’s G.I. Bro is hard to deny. Similar lawsuits, such as Lindsay Lohan against Rockstar Games, have rarely been successful so far.
However, those usually concerned the appearance or movements of real people. Here, it is about a protected comic character. Nevertheless, Booker T will likely have to prepare for a lengthy process that could drag on for years. Comparable cases have already shown this.
What do you think about this? Did Black Ops 4 really borrow from a foreign character? Or is someone just trying to boost their bank account through the success of Black Ops 4?
