The film based on the book, The Da Vinci Code, is due for release on

A trial underway in London’s ornate Royal Courts of Justice could have a wide-ranging impact on how authors gather and compile their research without being accused of copyright infringement. The British branch of the publisher Random House is being sued by two authors, who claim The Da Vinci Code novelist Dan Brown stole his ideas from their 1982 non-fiction book entitled Holy Blood and Holy Grail. The reclusive Brown has testified that the claim by British authors Michael Baigent and Richard Leigh is in his words "completely fanciful". Both books deal with a theory that Jesus Christ survived his crucifixion, took Mary Magdalene as his wife, and that their descendants survive to this day. Theologians consider the books’ thesis false and heretical. Brown’s The Da Vinci Code has sold more than 40 million copies in the past three years, and a film based on the book—starring Tom Hanks—is due for release on May 19.