Literary Plagiarism
Can you really copyright the ideas, themes, plot, characters of a novel? How about those of a nonfiction book? What about when a writer takes nonfiction ideas, real places, real events, real people, and weaves them together into an international best seller like The Da Vinci Code? Lawyer Jonathan James told a British court: "Dan Brown copied from The Holy Blood and the Holy Grail and therefore the publication of the result by the defendant is in infringement of the copyright of my client in the United Kingdom." The books are both published by Random House, which is a participant in the courtroom battle. And this isn't the first time Brown's been sued for plagiarism. See Lewis Perdue's blog for his saga or his website for TMI. The Beeb (BBC) has good coverage of the current brouhaha.
Conan Chitman, a copyright specialist for Mishcon de Reya solicitors, said the case could have wide-ranging implications. "This case, if it goes in favour of The Holy Blood and the Holy Grail, could open a floodgate of litigation for people who have had their ideas, as they see it, stolen by more successful people," he said.
posted by Georganna Hancock M.S. | 7:55 AM
3 Comments:
The 'Da Vinci Code' Trial: Chapter 2 - New York Times
"The High Court hearing was adjourned until Tuesday to allow the judge time to read the books and related materials." That guy is one fast reader!
I've been taught repeatedly that you can't copyright an idea, only its presentation. British copyright law is a little different, but not all that much so, I think.
Besides, the conspiracy theories in Holy Blood, Holy Grail are presented as historical facts, although there is now considerable evidence against them. To complain that Brown stole "ideas" from this purportedly nonfiction book is to admit that they aren't factual after all. Historical fact, of course, can't be copyrighted either.
By the way, there was an interesting piece in Making Light recently about copyright issues, including the idea that it would have been disastrous had the first disctonarywriter been able to claim copyright, in perpetuity, on...wait for it...alphabetization!
It could be plagiarism without being copyright infringement.
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