High Court Judge Peter Smith rejected a copyright-infringement claim by Michael Baigent and Richard Leigh, authors of The Holy Blood and the Holy Grail, who claimed that Brown's blockbuster "appropriated the architecture" of their 1982 nonfiction book.

Smith said it was not for him to decide whether Baigent was "extremely dishonest or a complete fool," but called him a "thoroughly unreliable witness."

Both books explore theories that Jesus married Mary Magdalene, the couple had a child and the bloodline survives. Most historians and theologians scoff at such ideas, but Brown's fast-paced mix of murder, mysticism, code-breaking and art history has won millions of fans.

The Japan Times Weekly: April 15, 2006
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