Da Vinci Code trial a case of whodunnit first

THE second instalment of the battle over The Da Vinci Code novel became a whodunnit first row at the High Court in London yesterday.

Michael Baigent and Richard Leigh are suing their own publishers, Random House, claiming the internationally successful novel by American Dan Brown lifts from their 1982 book, The Holy Blood And The Holy Grail (HBHG), itself a best-seller.

On Day Two of the trial, Mr Justice Peter Smith was told that the ideas contained in the non-fiction work were not original anyway.

John Baldwin QC, for the publishers, said copyright law did not protect general ideas. Any themes similar in both books were known to Dan Brown before he had even read The Holy Blood book, said Mr Baldwin.

“Many of the ideas complained of are not even in both books, some are not even in either, so they cannot possibly have been copied from one to the other,” he said.

“In the main, the ideas complained of were not original to HBHG anyway.”

The complaint, he said, was that HBHG disclosed the conjecture that Jesus was married to Mary Magdalene, that they had children who survived and married into a line of French kings, that the lineage continued today, and that there was a secret society based in France which had the objective of restoring this lineage to the thrones, not only of France, but also of other European nations.

Mr Baldwin said the writers claim these ideas - some of which appear in The Da Vinci Code - were protected by copyright, and went on: “We say the claim relies on, and seeks to monopolise, ideas at such a high level of generality they are not protected by copyright.

“The authors are seeking to monopolise information which is already in the public domain.”

Mr Baldwin said the theme of the HBHG book, that the Priory of Sion’s objective was to restore Christ’s descendants to the thrones of Europe, did not appear in Brown’s novel.

“It is our case that this suggestion that the central theme is a synopsis or summary of the full contents of HBHG is false.”

One of the main differences between the themes of the novel and the non-fiction work was the treatment of the crucifixion of Christ - the HBHG says the crucifixion was faked and that Jesus lived on.

“It is an important element in the book, but has no part in The Da Vinci Code,” Mr Baldwin said.