Da Vinci Code bestseller is plagiarism, Holy Blood Holy Grail authors claim
"Jesus conspiracy novel has earned £140 million, but now two academic writers say that their historical work preceded it by 20 years, reports Elizabeth Day
"It is the biggest-selling adult fiction book of all time and has earned its author a reputed £140 million with its plot about a global conspiracy to suppress Christ's marriage.
"The Da Vinci Code has sold more than 12 million copies and has been translated into 42 languages. But now two writers are suing its publishers, claiming that it was copied from their bestseller that first appeared more than 20 years ago.
"Michael Baigent and Richard Leigh claim that Dan Brown, the 39-year-old former English teacher from New Hampshire, has 'lifted the whole architecture' of the research that they carried out for their non-fiction work The Holy Blood and the Holy Grail, which they co-wrote with Henry Lincoln.
"They claim that the similarities between the two books are such that they have no choice but to sue Random House, whose imprint Doubleday is the publisher of Brown's novel."
