Ruling in Da Vinci Trial

Yesterday the judge in the Da Vinci Code trial ruled that Dan Brown did not plagiarize his bestselling book, The Da Vinci Code, lifting large chunks from the nonfiction book Holy Blood, Holy Grail. The importance of this case for writers, especially for those who write historical fiction, was that Brown wasn't charged with directly copying from the book, but with lifting the central theme. As it is now, you can't copyright an idea, so had the judge found in favor of the plaintiffs, it would have changed copyright law, making the writing of historical fiction much more difficult. For more on this decision, see NPR's site.