Courant being sued for stealing stories

HARTFORD, Conn. (AP) - The Hartford Courant is being sued by a smaller, family owned newspaper that is seeking financial damages for what it calls the Courant's repeated plagiarism of its stories.

The Journal Inquirer of Manchester filed the lawsuit Thursday in Hartford Superior Court, accusing the Tribune Co.-owned Courant of taking at least 11 stories in August and September and wrongly attributing them as its own work.

The Journal Inquirer is seeking undisclosed damages totaling more than $15,000 for alleged violations of federal copyright law and the state's unfair trade practices act.

Messages were left Thursday for the Courant's publisher, Richard Graziano, and Editor Naedine Hazell.

The Courant has cut its newsroom by half because of the recession and sagging advertising revenue.