Lawsuit against 'Da Vinci Code' in court

The author of The Da Vinci Code is in British High Court on Monday, accused of intellectual property theft.

The lawsuit by Michael Baigent and Richard Leigh, authors of  Holy Blood, Holy Grail, accuses Da Vinci Code author Dan Brown of stealing their themes and ideas for his blockbuster novel.

Brown attended court on Monday in London as a judge heard initial submissions.

Holy Blood, Holy Grail, a speculative non-fiction book written in 1982, puts forward the idea that Jesus married Mary Magdalene, they had a child and their bloodline exists to this day.

The idea, dismissed as nonsense by the Roman Catholic Church, is at the centre of The Da Vinci Code. The thriller involves uncovering a secret group that protects the descendants of Mary and Jesus.

The name of a major character in Brown's book, Sir Leigh Teabing, could be an anagram of Leigh and Baigent. A third author of the history book, Henry Lincoln, has decided to stay out of the action.

The two historians are suing Random House, which published Brown's book, but also their own publisher. Random House denies their claim.

The 1982 book, titled Holy Blood, Holy Grail, was itself controversial. In 2005, Baigent and Leigh reissed an illustrated edition, called The Holy Blood and the Holy Grail, also published by Random House, because of heightened interest in their ideas created by the popularity of The Da Vinci Code.

Jonathan Rayner James, a lawyer for Baigent and Leigh, said Brown was not being accused of taking specific parts of text, but of appropriating themes and ideas.

"Brown copied from  Holy Blood, Holy Grail and therefore the publication of the resulting novel is an infringement of my clients' copyright," he told court, according to a report from Associated Press.

The 1982 book also speculated that Christ did not die on the cross but lived and later went to France, an idea that wasn't used in Da Vinci Code.

Brown, who was expected to testify next week, told reporters outside court that this idea had no appeal for him.

"Suggesting a married Jesus is one thing, but questioning the Resurrection undermines the very heart of Christian belief," he said. Brown described himself as a committed Christian.

A film of The Da Vinci Code, starring Tom Hanks and Ian McKellan, is scheduled to open May 19.