WWE Hall of Famer Booker T. is gearing up for a main event match against Activision, albeit one in the courtroom rather than the Squared Circle. A Texas federal judge has just ruled yesterday that Booker T. Huffman’s lawsuit against the Call Of Duty publisher over the design of one of its famous army FPS series’ characters can now move forward, denying Activision’s request to dismiss the case.
The lawsuit in question was filed last February, with Booker T. contesting that Call Of Duty: Black Ops supporting character David ‘Prophet’ Wilkes is too similar to G.I. Bro, a former military gimmick that Booker once performed under and still owns the copyright to. Prophet, a cybernetic Specialist aligned with the series’ protagonists, made his first appearance in 2015’s Call Of Duty: Black Ops III, but it was his design in the later 2018 sequel, Call Of Duty: Black Ops 4, which sparked Booker T’s lawsuit due to Prophet sharing several traits with the wrestler – including a set of long dreadlocks that Booker began sporting in his later years.
According to a statement that the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas released yesterday, Judge Robert Schroeder has ruled in favor of honoring a previous ruling by a magistrate judge last year, advancing the case of Booker T. Huffman v. Activision Publishing, Inc., Activision Blizzard, Inc., and Major League Gaming Corp. despite Activision requesting to dismiss or transfer the case. In his statements regarding the ruling, Schroeder noted the similarities in both Prophet and Booker T’s gimmick: “Because a side-by-side comparison of the works identified in Plaintiff’s complaint are sufficiently similar to plausibly allege striking similarity, Plaintiff has adequately pleaded copying.” There is no word yet on when the court case will continue, but Booker will be represented by attorneys Micah Dortch and Chris Lindstrom of the Potts Law Firm and Patrick Zummo with the Law Offices of Patrick Zummo.
Booker T is well known among wrestling fans for his classic mid-90's run in World Championship Wrestling, during which he won the coveted World Heavyweight Title belt no less than five times before transferring to the World Wrestling Federation (now known as WWE) during the company’s buyout of WCW in 2001. In addition to his in-ring career, he has also served as a broadcast commentator on current WWE programming, made appearances in shows like The Weakest Link and Charmed, and has even collaborated with comic book publisher Last Sentry Comics on a comic series based on his old G.I. Bro gimmick, the character which serves as the genesis of his lawsuit with Activision.
While Prophet’s similarity to Booker T’s old persona is most likely an extreme coincidence, the resemblance was apparently too great for the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas to ignore, hence their ruling yesterday. Only time will tell if the five-time WCW Champion can pull off another victory against Activision, or what effect such a ruling would have on the Call Of Duty: Black Ops series going forward, but for now it seems that both the iconic Sports Entertainer and video game industry giant are getting ready for a conflict far less scripted than what they are used to.
Source: U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas