BL4: CUFADM02A Posting: "Da Vinci Code"

Question 1: Background Information - "The Holy Blood and the Holy Grail"

An Editorial Review of the book "The Holy Blood and the Holy Grail" by Michael Baigent, Henry Lincoln, and Richard Leigh from Amazon.com

Michael Baigent, Henry Lincoln, and Richard Leigh, authors of The Messianic Legacy, spent over 10 years on their own kind of quest for the Holy Grail, into the secretive history of early France. What they found, researched with the tenacity and attention to detail that befits any great quest, is a tangled and intricate story of politics and faith that reads like a mystery novel. It is the story of the Knights Templar, and a behind-the-scenes society called the Prieure de Sion, and its involvement in reinstating descendants of the Merovingian bloodline into political power. Why? The authors of Holy Blood, Holy Grail assert that their explorations into early history ultimately reveal that Jesus may not have died on the cross, but lived to marry and father children whose bloodline continues today. The authors' point here is not to compromise or to demean Jesus, but to offer another, more complete perspective of Jesus as God's incarnation in man. The power of this secret, which has been carefully guarded for hundreds of years, has sparked much controversy. For all the sensationalism and hoopla surrounding Holy Blood, Holy Grail and the alternate history that it outlines, the authors are careful to keep their perspective and sense of skepticism alive in its pages, explaining carefully and clearly how they came to draw such combustible conclusions. --Jodie Buller

Obtained from the Website: http://www.amazon.com/Holy-Blood-Grail-Michael-Baigent/dp/0440136482

Question 2: Background Information - "The Da Vinci Code"

An Editorial Review of the book "The Da Vinci Code" by Dan Brown from Publishers Weekly.

Brown's latest thriller (after Angels and Demons)is an exhaustively researched page-turner about secret religious societies, ancient cover ups and savage vengeance. The action kicks off in modern-day Paris with the murder of the Louvre's chief curator, whose body is found laid out in symbolic repose at the foot of the Mona Lisa. Seizing control of the case are Sophie Neveu, a lovely French police cryptologist, and Harvard symbol expert Robert Langdon, reprising his role from Brown's last book. The two find several puzzling codes at the murder scene, all of which form a treasure map to the fabled Holy Grail. As their search moves from France to England, Neveu and Langdon are confounded by two mysterious groups-the legendary Priory of Sion, a nearly 1,000-year-old secret society whose members have included Botticelli and Isaac Newton, and the conservative Catholic organization Opus Dei. Both have their own reasons for wanting to ensure that the Grail isn't found. Brown sometimes ladles out too much religious history at the expense of pacing, and Langdon is a hero in desperate need of more chutzpah. Still, Brown has assembled a whopper of a plot that will please both conspiracy buffs and thriller addicts.

Obtained from the Website: http://www.amazon.com/Da-Vinci-Code-Dan-Brown/dp/0385504209/sr=1-1/qid=1164539482/ref=pd_bbs_1/104-0487324-9008764?ie=UTF8&s=books

Question 3: Research this case and write a summary.

Michael Baigent and Richard Leigh, two authors of "The Holy Blood and the Holy Grain", had claimed that Dan Brown, author of "The Da Vinci Code", had stolen ideas from their book while his was still being worked on. Baigent and Leigh sued the publishing company, Random House, but the decision did not go in their favour. They plan to appeal next year. It is difficult to say whether their book, "The Holy Blood and the Holy Grail" influenced Dan Brown in any way because he did state that he had the book and that he did use parts of it within his own. Mr Baigent and Mr Leigh must pay 85% of Random House's costs of almost £1.3m.

Question 4: Why was Sony (in its capacity as a Film Company) so interested in the outcome of the case?

A spokesperson stated this when asked the question above: "While we were not a party to this lawsuit, we are pleased by this result and as we've been saying all along we are proceeding with our plans for the release of the film on 19 May. "
Obtained from an article found at this web address: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/4888496.stm

Question 5: Key issues raised by Jon Silverman in relation to Copyright and creative works.
Some key points from within the article - 'No surprise' in Da Vinci judgement writen by Jon Silverman on 07 April 2006 about the Court case between Dan Brown, author of "The Da Vinci Code" and two authors of "The Holy Blood and the Holy Grail", Michael Baigent and Richard Leigh.

• Since there is no copyright in an idea, any claim for breach of copyright must rest on the way that the idea is expressed.
• But, as copyright lawyer, David Hooper, points out, the key issue is the amount of a book, both in quantity and quality, which is copied by someone else.
• Copyright lawyer Simon Gallant, who was in court when Michael Baigent was giving evidence stated, "It was electrifying. I estimate that in a 20-minute period, he was forced to retract two or three claims and to apologise to Dan Brown for making them."

Obtained from the article - 'No surprise' in Da Vinci judgement - by Jon Silverman from the web address: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/4888954.stm