Da Vinci Code release threatened by lawsuit
Filed under: Drama, Mystery & Suspense, Sony, Celebrities and Controversy, Newsstand, Tom Cruise
The authors of Holy
Blood, Holy Grail, a non-fiction book from 1984 that suggests "Jesus may not have died on the cross, but
lived to marry and father children whose bloodline continues today," have hit Dan Brown with a plagiarism suit over The Da Vinci Code code. Needless to say, the suit, brought by
Michael Baigent and Richard Leigh to the tune of nearly $20 million, could potentially have a broader impact than
simply costing Brown some money. According to copyright lawyers, if the suit is successful, Baigent and Leigh could
"seek an order blocking further infringement of their copyright," thus threatening both future sales of
Brown's book and the release of Ron
Howard's film, a possibility that must have the suits at Sony shaking in their collective boots. Because Brown
freely lists Holy Blood as one of the major sources for novel, however, its authors may face an uphill battle
in proving plagiarism. The case is in a London court as we speak, and a decision is expected before the movie's release date.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
2-28-2006 @ 4:37AM
Dave said...
Wouldn't this also have an impact on Kevin Smith's Dogma. Perhaps it didn't make enough money for them to bother suing for a share of it.
It seems to me that this is not due to copyright or intellectual property, but rather jealosy over the amount of money that Dan Brown has made from The Da Vinci Code. Michael Baigent and Richard Leigh have realised that suing would be anb easier way to make a pile of cash than writing better books.
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