Wrestling For Control: Former WWE Pro’s Copyright Challenge To Activision’s Call of Duty Character

Copyright disputes relating to video games are becoming commonplace in American courts, and a recent decision from a federal court in Texas has permitted one such dispute to proceed to trial. 

On February 12, 2019, former professional wrestler Booker T. Huffman sued Major League Gaming and video game publisher Activision, claiming copyright infringement[1]. The lawsuit involves Mr. Huffman’s wrestling alter ego, G.I. Bro, a retired special operations’ solider.  In 2015, Mr. Huffman created four cartoon drawings of his G.I. Bro character and two comic books featuring G.I. Bro.  Mr. Huffman is the owner of each of the foregoing works, and further registered them with the United States Copyright Office[2].  Mr. Huffman claimed Activision copied G.I. Bro’s likeness when developing the character David “Prophet” Wilkes in the game Call of Duty: Black Ops 4.

While Defendants made several efforts to have the case dismissed, the case proceeded to trial, but the jury ultimately found for Defendants.

This article examines the case, looking at the motion for summary judgement and the arguments made by the Defendants and the trial that proceeded