‘Da Vinci Code’ author testifies

Dan Brown returned to the witness stand in London on Wednesday and acknowledged “reworking” passages from an earlier book for his bestselling novel “The Da Vinci Code,” but he firmly rejected charges that he ripped off key ideas for his conspiracy thriller.

The author spent a third day defending his work against a copyright infringement suit brought by Michael Baigent and Richard Leigh, authors of a 1982 nonfiction book, “The Holy Blood and the Holy Grail.”

The suit is not against Brown but his publisher, Random House, which also published “The Holy Blood and the Holy Grail.” Random House denies the claims, and Brown says the assertion that he copied is “completely fanciful.”

“I’m not crazy about the word ‘copied,’ ” Brown testified. “Copying implies it is identical. It’s not identical.”

Brown said “The Holy Blood and the Holy Grail” was “one of the books in the mix” when he and his wife, Blythe Brown, were researching the novel.

He acknowledged “reworking” passages from the earlier book. “That’s how you incorporate research into a novel,” Brown said.

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FINALLY

Concert postponed: Luciano Pavarotti has postponed a concert he was to have given in Brazil on Saturday because of a painful back, his publicist said. The 70-year-old tenor returned to New York for treatment, she said.

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