The Da Vinci Code’s controversial view on Jesus Christ’s life captures the attention of diverse audiences. This 2003 fictional novel has sold over 12 million copies and has been accused of slandering the Catholic Church with its inaccurate descriptions of Mary, Jesus, and the Bible.
On this day, February 27th, in 2006, the UK publisher Dan Brown was accused of copyright infringement. The authors of The Holy Blood and The Holy Grail, Michael Baignet and Richard Leigh, took Brown to court for plagiarism. Allegedly, this was done as a publicity stunt to increase sales for The Holy Blood and The Holy Grail, which was published 20 years prior; however, sales were not affected. In his defense, Brown states that neither he nor his wife read either novel before writing The Da Vinci Code, but it was after the first chapter of the Da Vinci Code that he turned to the novels for reference. He claims that history cannot be plagiarized; therefore, he is not in the wrong. The two novels were just one of the many resources used to publish the fictional thriller.
The trial cost over 1 million pounds and three months later the charges were dropped. After Brown was found not guilty, the Archbishop Angelo Amato and his church boycotted the film version of The Da Vinci Code. The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops stated that the film was morally offensive and had many theological and historical errors. Despite the controversy, The Da Vinci Code was still a humongous success and outsold Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix in 2004.