Michael Baigent

Michael Baigent

A New Zealand author is embroiled in a plagiarism row over Dan Brown's blockbuster hit, the religious thriller The Da Vinci Code, and has launched legal action against the novel's publishers.

Nelson-born Michael Baigent and American writing partner Richard Leigh are suing Random House Group in Britain, claiming damages that could run to millions of dollars.

The Da Vinci Code joined the New York Times bestseller list at No 1 and has sold more than 12 million copies internationally.

Before the lucrative Christmas sales week it had sold about 100,000 here and remains at No 1 on the local bestseller list.

It has reportedly earned Brown £140 million ($380 million) and is about to be turned into a Hollywood movie starring Tom Hanks.

But Baigent and Leigh, whose own 1982 work Holy Blood, Holy Grail caused such religious outrage when it was published that it sparked death threats, say Brown has lifted large tracts of their research without permission.

Their lawsuit claims at least £150,000 damages for breach of copyright, saying a "substantial" amount of their work has been used and asking that copies of The Da Vinci Code be destroyed.

Baigent told the Weekend Herald the United Kingdom lawsuit meant he could not talk about the case, or which parts of The Da Vinci Code he and Leigh say amount to plagiarism.

"All I can tell you is that we are suing Dan Brown for theft of intellectual property.

"The matter's with the High Court, it's sub judice, and I can't say anything more than that unfortunately.

"It's never a nice thing for one writer to have to be suing another."

Random House spokeswoman Clare Harrington said from London that the publishers would file their defence with the court soon.

"We continue to be confident that the claimants' case is wholly without merit," she said.

Details of the allegations made by Baigent and Leigh remain sealed by the British court.

However there are clear links between Holy Blood, Holy Grail and The Da Vinci Code, even though the latter is a novel and the former a non-fiction study of secret religious history.

It also appears the identities of Baigent and his two co-authors have provided Brown with material for his characters.