Da Vinci Code publisher wins copyright case

High Court judge Peter Smith rejected a copyright-infringement claim by Michael Baigent and Richard Leigh, authors of The Holy Blood and the Holy Grail, who claimed that Brown’s blockbuster “appropriated the architecture” of their 1982 nonfiction book.

“It would be quite wrong if fictional writers were to have their writings pored over in the way DVC (Da Vinci Code) has been pored over in this case,” the judge said.