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Activision Trial Counsel Discusses Case About Video Game Character
Activision Blizzard and a trial team led by San Francisco-based Durie Tangri partner Daralyn Durie recently faced down a $400 million copyright suit in the Eastern District of Texas. The suit was brought by a popular figure from World Wrestling Entertainment, Booker T. Huffman, who is also depicted in comic books as action hero "G.I. Bro." Huffman v. Activision Publishing Inc., 2:19-cv-00050.
Huffman alleged that Activision used his "G.I. Bro" image to create David "Prophet" Wilkes, a character in Call of Duty: Black Ops 4. "There is no doubt that defendants copied 'G.I. Bro,'" Huffman's attorneys alleged in the complaint.
Turned out there was doubt. Durie presented to the jury the model who actually posed to be "Prophet." She then took the gamble of not calling her side's damages expert after Huffman declined to call his. The verdict: no infringement, and therefore no damages.
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