Dan Brown is expected in London to be trialed for plagiarism. Historians Michael Baigent and Richard Leigh, have accused Brown of plundering his plot from their non-fiction book The Holy Blood and the Holy Grail, which they co-authored with Henry Lincoln, particularly the jigsaw puzzle part. 'It's rather that he's lifted the whole architecture - the whole jigsaw puzzle-and hung it on to the peg of a fictional thriller.' If the pair won the case, which is unlikely, 'it would have seismic implications. Novelistswould have to be very-very careful when using non-fiction sources to build their fiction.' Professor Lisa Jardine asserted: 'they are not going to win. I don't think plagiarism any longer holds up-we live in a world of cut and paste, and in a global village.'
source: David Smith, "Da Vinci case pits history against art." The Observer 26 Feb 2006:14.
4 comments:
Unless they can prove that there are multiple sentances in the Da Vinci Code that have been copied word-by-word from the "Holy Blood and the Holy Grail" I don't think they have a case.
Another reason why they won't win is that the authors of "Holy Blood..." claim that their book is fact. If it's fact, why should they have copyright on this part of history?
I think they know that their chances in court are minimal but predicted they would get free marketing and this would increase interest in their book and generate more sales. They see a win in court as a bonus.
Obviously Dan Brown is an easy target since he gained eminence and money after Da Vinci Code. I agree that this case is triggered by ulterior motives. BUT: You cannot copyright history nevertheless, you can at least acknowledge the discovery of facts that led to questioning one of the foundations of ideology's contruction, that is, religion, and not appropriate them for your own purposes. (By the way, I believe that Dan Brown takes delight in repeating himself in his books!!!).
well... history or HIStory...
I did not reseached it, but the DVC is a fiction only based on 2 big selling theme:
- conspiracy theory
- religion
my main concern is for the people that take this book for granted...and I believe a lot of them.
Successful author Dan Brown shook his head moodily over the coffee-stained letter.
As much as I dislike his writing, I hope that he wins the case.
PS. Is SE England so bad?
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