Lawyers for The Hartford Courant say in recently filed court documents that a $7.5 million plagiarism lawsuit filed by a competing newspaper should be dismissed because no copyright laws were broken.
The motion to dismiss filed on May 4 in Hartford federal court comes nearly two years after Courant CEO and Publisher Richard Graziano acknowledged that the newspaper had plagiarized competitors, but not intentionally.
The Journal Inquirer of Manchester first filed the lawsuit in state court in 2009, but withdrew it for technical reasons. The paper refiled the lawsuit in federal court in February, saying the Courant plagiarized at least 10 Journal Inquirer stories in violation of copyright laws.
The Courant says in the new court documents that there was no "substantial similarity" between the Courant and Journal Inquirer stories.
