Michael Baigent | 'Da Vinci Code' suer, 65

Writer Michael Baigent, 65, who gained attention for launching a lawsuit contending that

The Da Vinci Code

stole ideas from his own book, has died June 17 in Brighton, England, of a brain hemorrhage, his family said.

Mr. Baigent, of New Zealand, co-wrote the 1982 nonfiction book The Holy Blood and the Holy Grail, which explores theories that Jesus married Mary Magdalene, the couple had a child, and the bloodline survives.

In 2006, Mr. Baigent and co-author Richard Leigh made international headlines when they sued Dan Brown's publisher for copyright infringement, claiming Brown "appropriated the architecture" of their book. Brown had to fly to London to be cross-examined in court, but a judge eventually ruled against Mr. Baigent and Leigh. - AP