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Two Historians Suing Random House Over "The Da Vinci Code"

Two historians are suing the publishers of Dan Brown's bestselling religious thriller The Da Vinci Code in a case that lawyers say will start in February.

Richard Leigh and Michael Baigent are suing Random House for lifting "the whole architecture" of the research that went into their 1982 non-fiction book The Holy Blood and the Holy Grail.

Lawyers on both sides of the case met yesterday but would not comment on how the trial might affect sales of the novel or the distribution of a major Hollywood adaptation which Sony Pictures planned to release in May.

Random House said a "substantial" part of the claim had been dropped as a result of the talks.