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History against art

David Smith

Author Dan Brown is expected in London for plagiarism case.

NOTHING LESS than the future of Western literature is at stake in the High Court in London on Monday. Or so the publisher of The Da Vinci Code, the money-spinning blockbuster by Dan Brown, is expected to argue in a ground-breaking trial.

Mr. Brown, whose tale of clerical conspiracy and murder has become the best-selling hardback adult novel of all time, is accused of plundering his plot from a non-fiction work called The Holy Blood and the Holy Grail.

Historians Michael Baigent and Richard Leigh, who co-wrote the book with Henry Lincoln, claim that Mr. Brown plagiarised "the whole jigsaw puzzle" of their decade's worth of research — that Jesus married Mary Magdalene and had a child, founding a bloodline that was protected by the Knights Templar.

If they win, the historians will seek an injunction preventing further infringement of their copyright. In theory, this could bar Random House from publishing Mr. Brown's book, which has sold more than 40 million copies, and even threaten the British release of the £53-million film adaptation, starring Tom Hanks, Audrey Tautou, and Sir Ian McKellen.

However, lawyers representing Random House are expected to argue that the implications would damage the art of writing itself.

Not without precedent

It is believed they will tell the court that for centuries writers have recycled plots, themes, and ideas from each other. One literary figure has pointed out that apart from A Midsummer Night's Dream, every one of Shakespeare's plays is based on another source.

Such trading has given rise to the saying, "good writers borrow, great writers steal."

Mr. Brown, now a multi-millionaire who shuns the media spotlight, is expected to be in London to defend his work. A Random House source said: "Can you copyright an idea? Previously copyright has applied just to how the idea is used. This is why we are confident. If the claimants win, it's the end of John Grisham, Tom Clancy, Robert Harris, Helen Fielding — and Shakespeare."

Lisa Jardine, a former Man Booker Prize judge, said: "They are not going to win. I don't think plagiarism any longer holds up — we live in a world of cut and paste, and in a global village. Creativity is always a beautifully arranged patchwork that nudges something a little further on."

- Guardian Newspapers Limited 2006

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