Dan Brown Copyright Infringement Lawsuit Going to Trial

Posted on February 27, 2006

The Observer (U.K.) has details about the Dan Brown plagiarism lawsuit which is finally going to trial. Brown is set to testify in the case.

Nothing less than the future of Western literature is at stake in the High Court tomorrow. Or so the publisher of The Da Vinci Code, the money-spinning blockbuster by Dan Brown, is expected to argue in a ground-breaking trial. Brown, whose tale of clerical conspiracy and murder has become the bestselling hardback adult novel of all time, is accused of plundering his plot from a non-fiction work called The Holy Blood and the Holy Grail.

Historians Michael Baigent and Richard Leigh, who co-wrote the book with Henry Lincoln, claim that Brown plagiarised 'the whole jigsaw puzzle' of their decade's worth of research - that Jesus married Mary Magdalene and had a child, founding a bloodline that was protected by the Knights Templar. If they win, the historians will seek an injunction preventing further infringement of their copyright. In theory, this could bar Random House from publishing Brown's book, which has sold more than 40 million copies, and even threaten the British release of the �53m film adaptation, starring Tom Hanks, Audrey Tautou and Sir Ian McKellen.

However, lawyers representing Random House are expected to argue that the implications would damage the art of writing itself. It is believed they will tell the court that for centuries writers have recycled plots, themes and ideas from each other. One literary figure has pointed out that apart from A Midsummer Night's Dream, every one of Shakespeare's plays is based on another source. Such trading has given rise to the saying, 'good writers borrow, great writers steal'.

Brown, now a multi-millionaire who shuns the media spotlight, is expected to be in London to defend his work. A Random House source said: 'Can you copyright an idea? Previously copyright has applied just to how the idea is used. This is why we are confident. If the claimants win, it's the end of John Grisham, Tom Clancy, Robert Harris, Helen Fielding - and Shakespeare.' Random House is expected to point to a series of other books that have also 'borrowed' from Baigent and Leigh's work in the 24 years since it was published, none of which was sued. The implication is that Brown, like JK Rowling and others, has been targeted because of his multi-millionaire status. 'Where there's a hit, there's a writ,' the source said.

It's our understanding that he credited the plaintiffs in his book in the list of research resources. Furthermore, that central idea -- that Jesus was married to Mary Magdalene -- has been around for centuries and has been discussed at length in many books. Dan Brown doesn't deserve this kind of harassment; he worked hard to get where he is and his story is his own. That's how we feel about it.

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