Lawyer Warfare.
Clayton Haugen is a writer who has sued Activision Publishing Inc., Activision Blizzard Inc., and Major League Gaming Corp. over the basis of them stealing his Cade Janus character in
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare. Haugen created the Cade Janus character as part of concept art and a story treatment that was created to draw interest from movie production companies. To do so, he posted his protected images on his website and social media in order to both demonstrate his talent and provoke engagement from film studios.
“There should be no question that this was a planned, deliberate effort to duplicate the striking images created by Mr. Haugen,” said Micah Dortch of the Dallas office of the Potts Law Firm. “The evidence included in our filing clearly shows the similarities between the original images and the digitized character, as well as the actual use of Mr. Haugen’s images.”