Dan Brown took the stand Monday to rebut accusations that he copied from other writers' work to produce his huge best seller "The Da Vinci Code."

Authors Michael Baigent and Richard Leigh are suing "Da Vinci Code" publisher Random House for copyright infringement, claiming Brown "appropriated the architecture" of their 1982 nonfiction book "The Holy Blood and the Holy Grail."

Answering a question by the accusers' lawyer, reports CBS News correspondent Larry Miller, author Dan Brown said much of the research for the Da Vinci Code had been done by his wife who was "deeply passionate about the sacred feminine."

He admitted a debt to the non-fiction book, but said his research came from a whole raft of sources. History he said, can not be copyrighted.

Brown's lawyers released a previous witness statement in which the author said he was shocked by the allegations.

"Baigent and Leigh are only two of a number of authors who have written about the bloodline story, and yet I went out of my way to mention them for being the one who brought the story to mainstream attention," Brown said in the statement.

"I have been shocked at their reaction; furthermore I do not really understand it."

The plaintiffs' allegations contain "numerous sweeping statements which seem to me to be completely fanciful," Brown said.