The attorney for the Manchester newspaper that is suing The Hartford Courant for plagiarism says the lawsuit could set a precedent for monetary awards in the future for such acts, Editor & Publisher reports.
He adds that the suit filed by the Journal Inquirer is seeking $150,000 per incident, which could top out at $1.65 million, E&P reported today on its Web site.
“In an era when the small newspapers are squeezed and have reporters out there, sitting and listening to meetings, there is something wrong with another paper coming in an glomming it off,” said Richard P. Weinstein, West Hartford attorney for the Journal Inquirer, which filed suit Nov. 18 against the Courant. “I don’t quite understand why this has persisted.”
The lawsuit, filed in Connecticut State Superior Court, lists 11 incidents in which the JI alleges the Courant utilized its reporting without credit. It cites Courant articles from Aug. 4 to Sept. 11 of this year. Weinstein told E&P the JI is basing the $150,000 amount per incident on federal copyright law.
“Larger newspapers have the advantage of economies of scale, and the defendant’s pirating of the plaintiff’s local news stories substantially diminishes the plaintiff’s ability to compete,” the suit states.
The Courant declined to comment on the lawsuit to E&P. The Courant and its broadcast affiliate, WTIC-TV Fox Channel 61, are owned by Tribune Co.
When the Journal Inquirer first raised the issue in August, the Courant responded with an apology in the newspaper and a promise to discontinue the practice. A letter from Publisher Richard Graziano that appeared Sept. 4 in the Courant stated: “In short, after an extensive internal review, we have determined that over the last several weeks The Courant plagiarized the work of some of our competitors. This was not our intent, but it is in fact what happened. We are taking corrective action to prevent it from happening again. We have also disciplined the individuals involved.”
But Weinstein claims the plagiarism continued after that letter was printed and says that, in part, sparked the lawsuit.
The legal action is significant because it seeks financial payment for plagiarism, a practice that is rare among newspapers, especially when one paper admits it has copied the work of the other. “It could be very significant,” Weinstein said about the case’s impact on future actions regarding plagiarism. “Local reporting is how this newspaper builds its reputation.”
