Activision Blizzard Was Sued Over "Delusional" Call Of Duty Character Copyright, Lawsuit Dismissed By Judge
Brooks Entertainment alleged the CoD publisher ripped them off, but...
Last month, Call of Duty publisher Activision Blizzard was sued by Brooks Entertainment who alleged that Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare stripped elements from the games they pitched. But come court day, Brooks Entertainment didn't even understand the basics of the game or who the main character was, leading the presiding judge to dismiss the lawsuit and Activision Blizzard clowning the claimant as "delusional."
The lawsuit was quite the doozy. CEO Shon Brooks of Brooks Entertainment had apparently pitched two game projects to Activision Blizzard between 2010 and 2015 called "Save One Bank" and "Stock Picker," and alleged Infinite Warfare copied those titles.
Brooks' evidence goes into how the main character of Infinite Warfare, "Sean Brooks," infringes on his company's entertainment character Shon Brooks' persona. Brooks segwayed into claiming Infinite Warfare and Save One Bank shared similar first-person and third-person shooter mechanics with a "scripted battle scene in a high fashion couture shopping mall" and both main characters fly to Mars.
Activision Blizzard's legal team called Brooks "delusional" and outright denied they never talked to Brooks or received any pitches from him. A quick google search (don't worry, I got you) will tell us that Nick Reyes is actually Infinite Warfare's main character, so I mean, that's pretty irrefutable evidence that Brooks either didn't do his homework or this is all a hoax. Activision Blizzard continues with their comments by pointing out that "Sean Brooks" is an Irish space marine and "Shon Brooks" is an "African-American San Diego-based financial consultant and cigar salesman."
As you might expect, the judge dismissed the lawsuit. Obviously, Brooks didn't know anything about Infinite Warfare and his claims were "legally and factually baseless." In the end, Brooks was ordered by the judge to reimburse Activision Blizzard and Rockstar - who was a part of the lawsuit for some strange reason - attorney fees and litigation costs.
Bizarre story, right? I mean, how do you go into court without knowing anything?
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About the Author

Anthony Jones is a gaming journalist and late 90s kid in love with retro games and the evolution of modern gaming. He started at Mega Visions as a news reporter covering the latest announcements, rumors, and fan-made projects. FFXIV has his heart in the MMORPGs scene, but he's always excited to analyze and lose hours to ambitious and ambiguous MMOs that gamers follow.
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