Booker T is getting his day in court.
In February 2019, Booker T Huffman filed a civil lawsuit against Activision Publishing, Inc., Activision Blizzard, Inc., and Major League Gaming Corp., for allegedly modelling the look of David “Prophet” Wilkes in Call of Duty: Black Ops 4 after the comic book version of his former G.I. Bro character. The two-time WWE Hall of Famer debuted the persona while performing for the Western Wrestling Alliance, even reviving it briefly in 2000 for WCW when he helped lead the Misfits In Action stable.
G.I. Bro and the Dragon of Death was released in 2015, to which Huffman created and owns the copyrights. Per PWInsider, here is an excerpt from the 9-page filing:
"This is an action for copyright infringement. Booker T. created two comic books based on his character “G. I. Bro.” G.I Bro is a special operations action hero. Defendants published a series of multiplayer, first-person shooter games under the general title “Call of Duty.” In 2018, defendants released Call of Duty: Black Ops 4, a “prequel” to the prior videogame Call of Duty: Black Ops III. In Call of Duty: Black Ops III, one of the “specialist” characters was David “Prophet” Wilkes, who had replaced 90% of his body with “cybernetics” to enhance his fighting ability. For the “prequel,” Call of Duty: Black Ops 4, Defendants chose to depict “Prophet” as he was before he remade himself. They could have drawn him any way they wanted. But they chose to steal Booker T.’s “G. I. Bro.”
Booker T insists that permission was never sought nor given and that his copyrighted material continued to be infringed upon through distribution of the game. The lawsuit also claims that the first-person-shooter is thought to have made over $1 billion since its release in October 2018.
Huffman had requested a jury trial and that he be awarded whatever relief is determined by the court. He will now have the chance to present his case as jury selection will begin on April 19, 2021, before Eastern District of Texas Judge Robert W. Schroeder III.
Fightful will keep you updated should any new information become available.
