Robert Booker Tio Huffman, known to WWE fans as Booket T, has filed a copyright infringement complaint against Activision alleging that the Call of Duty: Black Ops 4 character David “Prophet” Wilkes is similar to his G.I. Bro persona.
G.I. Bro is a wrestling character that Booker T translated into two comic books he created. Prophet, meanwhile, was first introduced in Call of Duty: Black Ops III as a specialist. In Black Ops 4, 90 percent of Prophet's body has been replaced with cybernetics in order to improve fighting ability.
The official complaint was filed in the District Court of the Marshall Division of Eastern Texas. The problem stems from Call of Duty: Black Ops 4's depiction of how Prophet looked like prior to his upgrades. Huffman alleges that Prophet could have been designed differently, but it appears Treyarch used the likeness of G.I. Bro instead.
Huffman reveals that he teamed with Travis Huffman, who is not related to him despite identical last names, back in 2015 to create the artwork and four cartoon versions of G.I. Bro. This also includes the comic book G. I. Bro and the Dragon of Death.
The suit claims that the infringement has "resulted in hundreds of millions of dollars in sales of infringing copies of Booker T.’s G. I. Bro Works" and that Huffman requests a trial by jury.
This is not the first time that a celebrity has sued a video game over allegations of using their likeness. Lindsay Lohan sued Rockstar Games and Take-Two Interactive in the past, alleging that Grand Theft Auto V had used her likeness. Specifically, Lohan claimed that the blonde in a red bikini taking a selfie featured on the cover art was based on her. The court later tossed out the complaint, saying that the game is satire.
Fortnite is facing the same issues as well, with multiple suits being filed over allegations of stolen dance moves. Celebrities that filed a suit against the game include 2 Milly, Alphonso Ribeiro, Russell “Backpack Kid” Horning, and James "BloBoy JB" Baker.
