DAN BROWN - DA VINCI CODE WRITER TRIUMPHS IN COURT

THE DA VINCE CODE author DAN BROWN triumphed in a New York City court on Friday (05AUG05), when a judge ruled his best-selling novel had not plagiarised another writer's work.

LEWIS PERDUE claimed Brown had used sections from two of his novels - 1983's THE DA VINCI LEGACY and 2000's DAUGHTER OF GOD - in The Da Vinci Code, and sought $150 million (GBP84 million) in damages as well as an injunction blocking further distribution of Brown's book and the forthcoming movie adaptation.

Judge GEORGE DANIELS, presiding at New York District Court, ruled that any similarity between the works of fiction was based on "unprotectable ideas".

Judge Daniels told the court, "A reasonable average lay observer would not conclude that The Da Vinci Code is substantially similar to Daughter of God.

"Any slightly similar elements are on the level of generalised or otherwise unprotectable ideas."

Following the ruling, Perdue insisted he would appeal against the decision: "I have no doubt that we're going to see this overturned on appeal because there have been copyright infringement cases where the parties had less to go on than we have and they were able to have their cases overturned."