U.S. newspaper publisher GateHouse Media has sued The New York Times (NYT) for violating copyright terms by permitting its Boston Globe office to include headlines and beginning sentences from sites owned by the publisher, CNet reported Tuesday.

The links featured on NYT's Boston.com Newton Web site navigate users to the original GateHouse content that also displays advertising. However, GateHouse states in the lawsuit that the Massachusetts-based publisher was losing advertising revenue because users go straight to the articles, and do not see the its homepage ads.

Furthermore, the actions may have fooled users into thinking that GateHouse supports this type of linking practice, the lawsuit states, according to CNet.

"Far from being illegal or improper, this practice of linking to sites is common and is familiar to anyone who has searched the Web," said NYT Senior Vice President of Corporate Communications Catherine Mathis. "It is fair and benefits both Web users and the originating site."

A GateHouse spokesperson refused to comment on Tuesday, CNet reported.