'Da Vinci Code' Lawsuit Begins

According to the Washington Post. The dispute is between the authors of "The Holy Blood and the Holy Grail," a 1982 book presented as historical non-fiction, which describes the theory that Jesus Christ and Mary Magdalene, wed, had a child and the bloodline survived. These are central themes in the Da Vinci Code.

Lawyers who specialize in intellectual property law here said the case could clarify aspects of British copyright law. While it is clearly illegal to plagiarize from copyrighted material, it is less clear how much an author can use research and ideas presented in others' work, they said.

Brown has publicly acknowledged using "The Holy Blood and the Holy Grail" as part of his research in writing his book, but he has described it as a minor resource. John Baldwin, the attorney for Random House, argued in court that the book "did not have anything like the importance to Mr. Brown" asserted by authors Richard Leigh and Michael Baigent. The third author of "The Holy Blood and the Holy Grail," Henry Lincoln, is not a party to the lawsuit.

. A fasciating case to be sure, I wonder what legal twists and turns will accompany this suit, surely not nearly as entertaining to the average person, but intellectual property lawyers are sure to have a field day.