Hartford Courant accused of plagiarism

2009-11-24 14:56:20 (GMT) (JusticeNewsFlash.com - Business Litigation, Justice News Flash)

Wiki Image: The Hartford Courant is accused of copying articles.

Legal news for Connecticut business litigation attorneys. The Hartford Courant is accused of copying articles from other newspapers.

Connecticut business litigation attorney alerts- The Journal Inquirer filed a lawsuit against the Hartford Courant for plagiarism.

Hartford, CT—The country’s oldest newspaper in continuous publication, the Hartford Courant, was accused of plagiarism in a recent lawsuit filed by another Connecticut newspaper. The Journal Inquirer of Manchester, Connecticut, filed a lawsuit on Wednesday, November 18, 2009 in the Connecticut Superior Court in Hartford, as reported by the New York Times.

Connecticut’s largest paper, The Courant, which is owned by the Tribune Company of Chicago, allegedly copied at least 11 articles from The Journal Inquirer in August and September. In addition, the suit also claimed The Courant was lifting articles from other northern Connecticut newspapers as well. The Bristol Press, New Britain Herald, Torringon Register-Citizen, and the Waterbury Republican-American, are among the copied news sources. Most if not all, of the online articles posted by the The Courant did credit the original newspapers in which they were pulled from; but when in print many of the attributions were left out.

Instead of the byline crediting the original news source, the Courant writers would add their own name instead. The articles in question were rewritten and rearranged in attempts to avoid plagiarism, but some phrases from the original works were left in tact. The Journal Inquirers lawsuit is only addressing the copied articles where no credit was given to the originator. Lawyers representing the complainant stated, even though attribution was made, the mere fact of copying the articles is violating the law. The plagiarism lawsuit is seeking attorney’s fees, and punitive damages.

Legal News Reporter: Nicole Howley-Legal news for Connecticut business litigation lawyers.