Out-Law News 1 min. read

High Court hears Da Vinci Code dispute


A High Court hearing began yesterday to determine whether blockbuster The Da Vinci Code is in breach of copyright. Historians Michael Baigent and Richard Leigh allege that the novel copies key theories from their book, The Holy Blood and the Holy Grail .

Baigent and Leigh’s non-fiction bestseller was published in 1982. In this the two men, together with a third author, Henry Lincoln, who is not involved in the proceedings, set out a hypothesis in which Jesus and Mary Magdalene are supposed to have married and had a child.

According to The Holy Blood, their descendants are still alive today and the Catholic Church has tried hard to keep the matter secret.

On the other hand, The Da Vinci Code, written by Dan Brown, concerns a secret society, a search for the Holy Grail and the revelations that Mary Magdalene married Jesus, bore his child and was his preferred successor. Again the Church is depicted as trying to keep the facts hidden.

The two authors are suing publishers Random House, which publishes both The Da Vinci Code and, ironically, The Holy Blood and the Holy Grail, for breach of copyright. Dan Brown is not being sued, but is expected to give evidence.

The hearing is expected to last two weeks. Reports suggest that if successful the suit may result in a delay in the UK release of the film version of The Da Vinci Code, starring Tom Hanks.

The dispute is not the first to erupt over the controversial bestseller. In August Brown and Random House won a copyright suit brought by rival author Lewis Perdue, who claimed that the book infringed on his novel Daughter of God, published in 2000.

That novel tells the tale of a fictional Fourth Century female Messiah and the shroud that wrapped her body – secrets that various modern day parties, including the Russian mafia and ambitious Vatican officials, are keen to use to their advantage.

Key to the novel is Perdue’s discussion of the divine feminine, and the Church’s role in ensuring a male, rather than female dominated religion. These themes are also present in The Da Vinci Code.

Judge George Daniels found that there had been no infringement, explaining that "copyright protection does not extend to thematic concepts or scenes which must necessarily follow from similar plot situations."

We are processing your request. \n Thank you for your patience. An error occurred. This could be due to inactivity on the page - please try again.