Legal Threats Swirl Around Best-Selling ‘Da Vinci Code’
This article is from the archive of The New York Sun before the launch of its new website in 2022. The Sun has neither altered nor updated such articles but will seek to correct any errors, mis-categorizations or other problems introduced during transfer.
The smash success of Dan Brown’s novel “The Da Vinci Code” has given rise to a whole subgenre of successful books in the vein of “Secrets of the Da Vinci Code,” and now it appears the book may inspire a wave of legal action as well.
Following Mr. Brown and Random House’s pre-emptive filing against author Lewis Perdue, who has maintained that the hit novel infringes on books of his own, comes word from Britain that a suit may be pending there against Mr. Brown. Trade magazine Publishing News reported last Friday that co-authors Michael Baigent, Richard Leigh, and Henry Lincoln are “considering” a suit against Mr. Brown for “breach of copyright of ideas and research” contained in their controversial 1980s best seller, “Holy Blood, Holy Grail.” Their nonfiction book explored many of the theories that are featured heavily in the plot of Mr. Brown’s novel, beginning with the speculation that Jesus was married, became a father, and that his bloodline still exists. The magazine indicates that if filed, a suit would be lodged in Britain first.
The connection between the two books is well known, and “Da Vinci Code” fans had made a success out of reissued editions of “Holy Blood, Holy Grail,” published by another Random House imprint. As Laura Miller wrote in the New York Times earlier this year, “This ‘nonfiction’ material gives “The Da Vinci Code” its frisson of authenticity, and it’s lifted from “Holy Blood, Holy Grail,” one of the all-time great works of pop pseudohistory.”
Publishing News notes the suit may pose the biggest threat to Columbia Pictures and producer Ron Howard, who are developing a film version of Mr. Brown’s book. Mr. Perdue also mentions the film adaptation, saying, “Ron Howard cannot make a movie out of THE DAVINCI CODE without using my material…unless he’s using Baigent’s stuff.” Mr. Perdue says his attorney sent notice to the producers in early September of his belief that Mr. Brown’s book is a violation of copyright. Presumably, the judge’s ruling in Mr. Brown and Random House’s suit will have an impact from Hollywood to London and back again.
