Activision & # 39; s Call of Duty franchise can operate and display Humvees without paying a license to a military vehicle manufacturer, a federal judge ruled in a ruling on Tuesday.
AM General, which built Humvee in 1983 and has produced it since, accusation in Blaszard's 2017, claiming that Huvee's unauthorized appearance in several Call of Duty video games from 2007 & # 39; s Call of Duty 4: Modern Wars return the authenticity and value in the series without compensation or permission.
However Judge George B. Daniels of the US District Court for the Southern District of New York ruled that the Activation's use of the image of Husvee ("trade" is a legal term) was appropriate, as the publisher's motive for doing this was to bring military forces of various nations into reality.
"Humvees & # 39; s protection in Call of Duty games is more artistic," wrote Daniels, giving the Activation Blizzard motion to issue an AM General complaint. "The introduction of real-world military vehicles in video games about modern warfare brings him to a real and healthy life for that player."
Daniels found that Humvees' representation in Call of Duty satisfied the test instituted by a formal preamble requiring such use to be artistic. "Any reasonable director would conclude that the existence of Humvees in Call of Duty games has at least an artistic value of at least & # 39; t zero, & # 39;" write him. Other legal scrutiny, including product confusion, the use of bad faith, and businesses where both parties are involved, have all violated Activision's law, too.
AM General brought its suit in November 2017; last summer, It started running Call of Duty: Modern Warfare as a stand-alone game. It is the version of the first Call of Duty game to install Humvees, which is updated by the current Hardware. AM General's case pointed to Husvee's unauthorized appearances in six console video games and other mobile and spinoff operations over the past 10 years.
The suit also pointed out that, in 1998, the company complained of activation by Husvee's appearance in an unrelated game (Sin), and after exchanging contact details, the activation had agreed not to use it. Daniels found that the 1998 letter would be inappropriate for a trial, and he should not have considered it. Humvee's remaining use "does not reflect a desire & # 39; s to sow confusion between the products of the two companies, & # 39;" said Daniels, citing another decision.
Polygon contacted an Activation Blizzard representative to request further comment.
The AM General Act is similar to the one introduced in 2012 involving Electronic Arts and the parent company of Bell Helicopter, whose aircraft was originally from a battlefield. If so, EA filed suit, as he and Prodron (Bell's parent) had some fruitless discussions about the use of a publisher who felt like an end to the case.
EA sought the judge's decision that such use, without seeking prior approval, was appropriate and protected by the First Amendment. But the issue ended with no ideas behind EA and Textron to be settled out of court.
EA had made similar objections to First Amendment protection for its use of actual college football players on the line of its NCAA football draft. A judge rejected that assumption in July 2013, imposing an Electronic Arts clause to pay $ 40 million for fixing the initiative brought by former college football players, and canceling the NCAA football series in September.
