Activision is facing a lawsuit regarding a character that was added to Call of Duty: Modern Warfare under the name “Mara”.
In the lawsuit Clayton Haugen, a photographer and writer, claims Activision has used a character he’s written and made called Cade Janus, who she used in one of her short stories under the name of “November Renaissance”. In Haugen’s original short story, Cade Janus is a female vigilante in a futuristic setting which is centered around human augmentation.
Operator Briefing: Mara
A Venezuelan national and former CIA asset turned elite WARCOM operator. Drop into battle as Mara today with the Season One Battle Pass on all platforms. #ModernWarfare pic.twitter.com/7iaIfKtQZ4
— Call of Duty (@CallofDuty) December 4, 2019
According to Haugen, Activision went on to hire the same model he used to play his character when pitching the story to be made into a movie and based the appearance of the character on his creation. In the lawsuit Haugen also says Activision even used the same makeup artist he used when modelling the character, alleging that Activision made the makeup artist and model both sign non-disclosure agreements to cover up the theft of his character.
Mara was included in the first season of the Call of Duty: Modern Warfare battle pass which also featured some skins for the character in the form of additional bundles. As of now Activision has not responded to the lawsuit.
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Image credit: Call of Duty Modern Warfare