Baigent v Random House (Da Vinci Code) [2007] EWCA Civ 247

Judgment was given by the Court of Appeal on the 28th of March 2007 in the copyright infringement case involving The Da Vinci Code, one of the most successful novels of all time. The Court dismissed the appeal and upheld the judge’s finding that the author, Dan Brown, had not copied a substantial part of Holy Blood Holy Grail, a work of historical conjecture and the product of a significant research effort. The case is of interest in the context of copyright protection in ideas and in the expression of ideas. John Baldwin QC and James Abrahams were counsel for the successful party.