Da Vinci Code author faces 'copying' challenge
Dan Brown, one of the highest paid authors in history, sat at the opposite end of a court bench today from two writers who claim he copied their work for his blockbuster novel, The Da Vinci Code.
Michael Baigent and Richard Leigh are suing their own publishers, Random House, claiming the internationally successful novel lifts from their 1982 book, The Holy Blood and the Holy Grail, itself a best seller.
This non-fiction work deals with theories that Jesus and Mary Magdalene married, had a child, and the blood line continues to this day – with the Catholic Church trying suppress the discovery.
It is similar to the theme explored in the Dan Brown novel, which won best book at last year’s British Book Awards and has sold over 40 million copies worldwide, earning the author £45m (€66.1m) in one year.
If the two writers are successful and opt to take injunctions stopping use of their material, it could threaten the British release of the film adaptation of the novel, starring Tom Hanks and Ian McKellen, which is scheduled to open on May 19.
The case, expected to last up to two weeks, is also likely to clarify existing copyright laws over the extent to which an author can use other people’s research.
Dan Brown, whose earnings are estimated at more than £200m (€293.7m), acknowledges the theories of The Holy Blood in his novel and names the villain in his story Sir Leigh Teabing, which, it has been suggested, was a deliberate part anagram of the surnames of the authors of the earlier work.
The two books – which deal with parallel versions of the fate of Jesus Christ - have ended up in the Chancery Division of the High Court before Mr Justice Peter Smith.
He was told by Jonathan James QC, representing the Holy Blood authors, that The Da Vinci Code is an infringement of his clients’ copyright.
