The Real Da Vinci Code Conspiracy

A British judge has ruled that a lawsuit claiming that Dan Brown plagiarized parts of The Da Vinci Code from the authors of The Holy Blood and The Holy Grail was virtually devoid of merit.

Both books suggest that Jesus had a child with Mary Magdalene and the bloodline continues to this day. Two of The Holy Blood authors alleged Brown had taken his ideas from their work – a claim that was dismissed out of hand. "Why," asked High Court Justice Peter Smith, "did the claimants" even bring their suit when even they lack "any genuine belief" in its merits?

Why indeed? Since launching the lawsuit the long-awaited paperback of The Da Vinci Code was released with a 5 million copy; Michael Baigent, one of the authors suing Brown, has launched his latest book, The Jesus Papers; sales for both of The Da Vinci Code and The Holy Blood and The Holy Grail – both published by Random House – have increased; every report about the lawsuit has noted that the book has been turned into a Hollywood film starring Tom Hanks, coming to a theatre near you this May, dontcha know?

What would the legal costs be when compared to the increase in sales and the extraordinary amount of free publicity given to both books and the upcoming film? Just a drop in a modern day marketing budget’s bucket.