Suit Claims Hartford Courant News Copy Copied News of Journal Inquirer

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The Manchester (Conn.) Journal Inquirer is seeking up to $1.65 million from The Hartford Courant for what it alleges are 11 distinct instances in which the Courant plagiarized stories from the rival daily.

The suit in Hartford County Superior Court (Journal Publishing Co., Inc. v. The Hartford Courant Co.) includes counts alleging copyright infringment, conversion, unjust enrichment and violation of the Connecticut Unfair Trade Practices Act based on stories that appeared in the Courant from Aug. 4 to Sept. 11 this year. The Courant's Publisher, Richard Graziano, published a letter of apology in the Courant on Sept. 4 acknowledging that the paper had plagiarized stories from competitors, adding that was "not our intent."

The Journal Inquirer seeks damages of $150,000 for each of the 11 purported acts of copyright infringement. The complaint intimates that staff reductions at the Courant may be partly to blame for the alleged infraction.

Not au courant, but oh Courant!