This is actually a pretty old rumor, Joshex. Are you telling us you have some new legit information from a solid source?
Notice how none of the sources for his information was cited, nor links given...? That right there tells me this info is suspect...
I don't know about Champions, but DCUO practically begs you to make ripoffs of DC characters. Half the costume pieces in that game are either based on or directly taken from one of their signature characters.
The difference being that DC is not going to sue themselves because people are making ripoffs of their own characters, because honestly the judge for that case is just going to scratch his head and dismiss the case... Which is why you can even get signature character costume pieces for your characters to wear if you're lucky or rich enough to get the item(Batgirl's cape, or Wonder Girl's belt being just two examples). It was intentional that you be able to mimic the signature characters in DCUO.
So really, the risk isn't in making DC character ripoffs in DCUO, but in making Marvel characters in DCUO. Marvel could technically sue Sony/DC for the same reasons they sued Cryptic/NCSoft if they really wanted. With the Shield Weapon, for instance, someone could easily make some form of Captain America ripoff if they wanted. This is the kind of stuff their Mods need to police against much in the same way CoH's Mods were always handing out "Generic Hero 1103568" names/costumes left and right for a few months straight until people started getting the hint that copyright violations were not tolerated(and continued to do long after as quickly as people would get reported for such violations).
Of course, a big difference between DC's current risk of legal action from Marvel, and Cryptic/NCSofts situation is that DC and Marvel have a much longer history with each other, and know what they can and can't get away with by this point before causing issues with their counterpart, and I believe their lawyers are much better equipped to deal with copyright violation complaints on these scales than Cryptic or NCSoft were(especially in terms of being able to afford the legal costs). That's not to say a lawsuit won't happen over DCUO, but it would be a costly legal battle, and either side would probably rather just let it slide anyways than fight such a grueling battle in court. Besides, despite their differences, it always felt like DC and Marvel have a friendly rivalry, rather than see each other as bitter enemies.