Chapter 18 & 19 Intentional Torts and Negligence

Chapter 18 & 19 Chapter 18 Intentional Torts

Chapter 18 & 19 There are three categories of damages to be paid in intentional torts – Compensatory Damages are awarded to compensate the plaintiff for what the defendant has done wrong. These can include lost wages and pain and suffering. – Nominal Damages, which are often in amounts like $1, are symbolic to show who is at fault. – Punitive Damages are meant to punish the defendant beyond just compensating the plaintiff.

Chapter 18 & 19 Intentional Torts, like crimes, can be broken down into categories. – Torts That Injure Persons includes assault, battery, false imprisonment, infliction of mental distress and torts related to defamation. A persons reputation is protected by the law of defamation. There are two kinds of defamation. Oral statements that harm reputation are called slander, and written statements are called libel. To be awarded damages for defamation, a plaintiff must prove that the statements made were false, and that a third party heard or read the statements.

Chapter 18 & 19 – Torts That Harm Property protect real property (houses, crops, and fences), personal property (which can be moved, cars, clothing) and intellectual property (creations of a person’s mind.) Laws protecting real property include trespass and nuisance laws. Personal property is protected by a tort called conversion, where a person unlawfully exercises control over the personal property of another person.

Chapter 18 & 19 – Intellectual Property is protected by patents and copyrights. Patents protect useful inventions such as processes, machines and new products. To receive a patent, an inventor must be creating something that has never been thought of before. Once granted a patent, an inventor has a monopoly over that product for twenty years. Anyone who tries to sell the product, is libel for infringement. Once the patent expires, the invention falls into the public domain and can be made by anyone.

Chapter 18 & 19 Copyrights protect any expression that is somehow fixed (written down, recorded on tape, stored on a computer or painted on a canvas.) Unlike, patents, there is no formal process, once you make your expression, you have a legal copyright. Copyrights last the lifetime of the author, plus 50 years. A copyright allows the author to make derivative works (works that are similar but slightly different.) If someone copies work that is copyrighted, even if they change a few words, they are infringing on the copyright. The standard is that the work must be “substantially similar.”

Chapter 18 & 19 Chapter 19 Negligence

Chapter 18 & 19 There are four elements that must be proved in a negligence case – Duty – the defendant had a duty of care to the plaintiff. – Breach of Duty – the duty was violated (or breached) by the defendant. – Causation - the defendant’s conduct caused the plaintiff’s harm. – Damages – the plaintiff suffered actual damages.

Chapter 18 & 19 There are four elements that must be proved in a negligence case – Duty – the defendant had a duty of care to the plaintiff. – Breach of Duty – the duty was violated (or breached) by the defendant. – Causation - the defendant’s conduct caused the plaintiff’s harm. – Damages – the plaintiff suffered actual damages.

Chapter 18 & 19 Judges and juries are instructed to follow a standard known as the reasonable person standard in negligence cases. Many states, including Michigan, have contributory negligence laws that will protect defendants if plaintiffs avoid warnings or saftey guidelines. Michigan also has comparative negligence laws that allow judges to award damages based on who was most at fault.