Journal Inquirer sues Courant for plagiarism

The Journal Inquirer says it has brought suit against the Hartford Courant, seeking financial damages for news stories the Courant acknowledged plagiarizing from its suburban competitor this summer.

The JI's suit, filed in Hartford Superior Court by West Hartford lawyer Richard P. Weinstein, alleges violation by the Courant of federal copyright law and Connecticut's Unfair Trade Practices Act. The suit documents 11 incidents of plagiarism by the Courant in July, August, and September and says there may have been more.

The Courant is accused of using its competitor's work to make up for the work formerly done by the Courant's own reporting staff, which was cut in half in the last two years as the economy weakened and the Courant's parent company, national media corporation Tribune, fell into reorganizational bankruptcy. The Courant's theft of the JI's stories was, the suit says, "immoral, oppressive, unethical, and unscrupulous" and "caused substantial injury to readers, competitors, and advertisers."

A Courant spokeswoman had no immediate comment.