Activision sued for allegedly stealing Warzone Operator design

A writer and photographer has filed a lawsuit against Activision Blizzard, claiming the company committed copyright infringement and modeled Mara, a popular Operator in Warzone and Modern Warfare, after a character he created for his story years prior.

According to a brand new lawsuit filed in Texas, and first reported by TorrentFreak, writer and photographer Clayton Haugen contends that Activision committed copyright infringement with the Modern Warfare and Warzone Operator Mara.

Haugen says the company deliberately copied her design from Cade Janus, a character featured in his own short story, November Renaissance, and the similarities are pretty striking.

Both Mara and Janus share the same model, Alex Zedra, and, based on the images provided by the lawsuit below, the look of Janus is very similar to the Warzone Operator. Haugen apparently hired Zindra for the role of Cade Janus in 2017, nearly two years before she debuted as an Operator in Modern Warfare.

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Haugen is even going as far as to say that Activision used the same photographer and hair professionals he had hired to attend to Zindra during his original Janus photoshoot. He says the company even had pictures of his character’s photoshoot up on the studio walls for reference.

“In addition to hiring the same talent, they also hired the same makeup professional who had prepared the talent for Haugen’s Cade Janus Photographs,” the lawsuit states. “They instructed the makeup professional to prepare the talent exactly as she had done for Haugen’s Cade Janus Photographs. They instructed her to style the talent’s hair exactly as she had done for Haugen’s Cade Janus photographs, even using the same hair piece extension.”

The Mara Operator wasn’t just any regular character in Modern Warfare and Warzone. Apart from being one of the more prominently-used characters, she was used heavily in the promotion of Modern Warfare’s first season back in December of 2019.

Not only that, but the model, Zedra, is very active on social media with over 118K followers on Twitter, so her online presence has kept the fictional Mara character relevant long after her debut in-game.

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At the time of writing, Activision is yet to issue an official comment or reply in regards to the lawsuit, so we’ll provide you with regular updates as more information becomes available.