Da Vinci Code was original
The week's news at a glance.
London
Novelist Dan Brown did not steal the plot of The Da Vinci Code from an earlier, nonfiction book, a British judge ruled last week. Historians Michael Baigent and Richard Leigh had sued the publisher of the best-selling novel, saying it ripped off their 1982 book, Holy Blood, Holy Grail. The judge said the historical themes were too general to be protected by copyright. “I’m still astonished that these two authors chose to file their suit at all,” said Brown. He’s in for another surprise: A Russian art historian said this week that he plans to sue Brown for stealing his theory that the face of the
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Nnela Kalu’s historic Turner Prize winTalking Point Glasgow-born artist is first person with a learning disability to win Britain’s biggest art prize
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Bridget Riley: Learning to See – an ‘invigorating and magical ensemble’The Week Recommends The English artist’s striking paintings turn ‘concentration into reverie’
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‘Stakeknife’: MI5’s man inside the IRAThe Explainer Freddie Scappaticci, implicated in 14 murders and 15 abductions during the Troubles, ‘probably cost more lives than he saved’, investigation claims