Da Vinci Code copyright case in High Court

The latest intellectual property dispute over Dan Brown's "The Da Vinci Code" has reached the UK High Court today.

"Writers Michael Baigent and Richard Leigh are claiming that the American novelist Dan Brown appropriated themes and ideas they explored in their 1982 book The Holy Blood and the Holy Grail.

They are suing their own publishers, Random House, which is also Mr Brown's publisher, for breach of copyright in the potentially far-reaching case."

Don't bet on it being a "potentially far-reaching case." It seems like a straightforward copyright case to me. I doubt that Michael Baigent and Richard Leigh will get another book deal with Random House after this but it does, however, have the potential to interest the general public in the issue of copyright and it will be fascinating to see how it works out.