Da Vinci Code publisher Random House in court

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Tuesday, February 28, 2006

Michael Baigent and Richard Leigh, who jointly wrote together with a third author, a 1982 Non-Fiction book The Holy Blood and the Holy Grail have taken The Da Vinci Code publisher Random House, to court claiming that The Holy Blood and the Holy Grail storyline has been stolen by Dan Brown.

The third author of The Holy Blood and the Holy Grail Henry Lincoln, is not involved in the case.

Random House is the of publisher of both The Da Vinci Code and The Holy Blood and The Holy Grail.

The central theme of the two books is that the bloodline from a marriage between Jesus and Mary Magdalene survives today.

Random House has denied the claim and, Random House chief executive Gail Rebuck says in a statement that she believed the lawsuit was without merit.

"As publisher of both The Da Vinci Code and The Holy Blood and The Holy Grail, we are genuinely saddened that two of the three authors of HBHG have chosen to bring this litigation against us...Random House takes no pleasure in defending a legal action that it believes is without merit and we are confident that we will prevail."

If this case is successful it could threaten the film; starring Tom Hanks and Sir Ian McKellen from opening.

The Da Vinci Code is a fiction book and has over 36 million copies in print worldwide. The dust jacket for the novel apparently includes longitude and latitude coordinates which lead to the CIA headquarters near Langley, Virginia.

Brown's next book, The Solomon Key, is rumoured to be about the Yale Skull and Bones society. Notable alumni of the society include current United States President George W. Bush, former President George H.W. Bush, and Massachusettes Senator John Kerry.

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Sources

"Historians sue over Da Vinci Code" — Reuters, February 27, 2006
Cahal Milmo. "Dan Brown stars in High Court tale of treachery" — The Independen, February 28, 2006
"British Authors Dan Brown faces 'copying' challenge" — The Scotsman, February 27, 2006
William Lyons. "Is Yale the key to new Brown blockbuster?" — The Scotsman, February 5, 2006

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