Account for profit: Difference between revisions
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What an [[agent]] must do if it profits (without permission) with its [[principal]]’s property; what a thief (or breacher of [[copyright]]) must do to its victim with the ill-gotten gains of its misfeasance. Importantly, ''not'' what a [[breach of contract|breacher of contract]] must do to an innocent [[counterparty]]: there the measure of compensation is the innocent party’s | {{a|contract|}}What an [[agent]] must do if it profits (without permission) with its [[principal]]’s property; what a thief (or breacher of [[copyright]]) must do to its victim with the ill-gotten gains of its misfeasance. Importantly, ''not'' what a [[breach of contract|breacher of contract]] must do to an innocent [[counterparty]]: there the measure of compensation is the innocent party’s [[loss]]. | ||
[[ | |||
[[Account for profits]] is a common law remedy for misuse of another’s property. It is not a remedy for [[breach of contract]]. | |||
===Not the same as loss of profits=== | |||
{{Loss of profits vs account for profits}} | |||
{{sa}} | {{sa}} | ||
*[[Loss of profit]] | |||
*[[Copyright vs. confidence]] | *[[Copyright vs. confidence]] | ||
*[[Breach of contract]] | *[[Breach of contract]] | ||
*[[Agency]] | *[[Agency]] | ||
Revision as of 10:03, 5 September 2023
What an agent must do if it profits (without permission) with its principal’s property; what a thief (or breacher of copyright) must do to its victim with the ill-gotten gains of its misfeasance. Importantly, not what a breacher of contract must do to an innocent counterparty: there the measure of compensation is the innocent party’s loss.
Account for profits is a common law remedy for misuse of another’s property. It is not a remedy for breach of contract.
Not the same as loss of profits
The remedy of special damages for loss of profits — when available, which will be hardly ever — compensates an innocent party to a contract for opportunities and profits she would have been able to take had the guilty party not breached the contract. This is different from the remedy of “accounting for profits”, which is a common law remedy for misuse of someone else’s property where the guilty party must disgorge to the owner any profits it has actually made in breach of his contractual or fiduciary duty.