NU Online News Service, June 8, 2:36 p.m.EDT

Credit rating agency A.M. Best Co. has filed a federal copyrightinfringement lawsuit against competitor SNL Financial, NU haslearned.

The suit filed in U.S. District Court in New Jersey alleges SNL“is displaying on its website a significant number of A.M. Best’scopyrighted ratings and written information slavishly copied fromA.M. Best’s copyrighted press releases.”

The improper use of A.M. Best’s copyrighted material by SNLcontinues today, according to the complaint filed in earlyApril.

A.M. Best says it seeks preliminary and permanentinjunctive relief, as well as money damages. The company alleges“significant and irreparable harm” as a result ofSNL’s actions.

According to court records, Judge Susan D. Wigenton denied A.M.Best’s motion for a preliminary injunction.

In a response to the motion SNL says A.M. Best’s “extremelylengthy delay in asserting its alleged rights belies its claimedneed for extraordinary emergent relief, and its application for apreliminary injunction must be denied for this reason alone,regardless of the merits of the underlying claims.”

A.M. Best says SNL came to them in 2004 and in 2007 and asked toreproduce A.M. Best’s ratings and press releases on the SNLwebsite. A.M. Best says it refused the request.

The Oldwick, N.J.-based rating agency says it learned SNL hasaccess to press releases and ratings on A.M. Best’s website andaccessed this information about 10,000 times in 2010.

“During those visits, SNL has copied verbatim or substantialparts of A.M. Best’s ratings and press releases,” alleges A.M.Best, which rates the financial strength of insurancecompanies.

Sometime last year A.M. Best says it began an investigationbased on reports that SNL was allegedly reproducing A.M. Best’sinformation illegally and distributing it to SNL subscribers.

The investigation found, for example, that SNL reproduced andrepublished 94 out of 100 ratings events A.M. Best issued inOctober 2010, according to court documents. The rating agency didnot issue a press release for 60 companies that month.Nevertheless, SNL copied the rating action for 41 out of those60 companies and similarly republished those ratings, A.M. Bestalleges.

From October to Dec. 31, 2010 someone with an SNL e-mail addressaccessed A.M. Best’s website nearly 3,400 times, according to thelawsuit. One particular user logged onto the site 2,543 times andaccessed 733 press releases and 1,665 ratings during the timeperiod.

On its website SNL says it is a provider of news, data andanalysis of business sectors, including insurance.

A conference to schedule all motions will be held late thismonth. Attorneys are instructed to submit a discovery plan at thattime. Discovery is a pre-trial exchange of evidence.

SNL could not immediately be reached for comment.