著作权惩罚性赔偿数额计算问题

著作权惩罚性赔偿规则在审判活动中的每一次适用将会对整个社会尤其是著作权领域的从业者产生预警和提醒的作用,同时也会在一定程度上引导知识经济的发展。司法工作人员不能忽视著作权惩罚性赔偿适用带来的社会规范效应,需要在法律规定的范围内确定合理的、可预期的赔偿数额。然而,作为一项新设立的制度,著作权惩罚性赔偿在司法适用过程中面临着诸多挑战。因此,有必要在司法实践基础上对该制度的不足之处进行分析,并提出相应完善建议。     

对建设工程合同中发包人自便解约权的探讨

以广西壮族自治区武鸣县法院审理的广西壮族自治区武呜县采血站诉南宁大地建筑工程公司案为案例,分析承揽合同中定作人自便解约权的立法渊源及国际惯例,讨论承揽合同与建设工程合同之间的关系,论述建设工程合同发包人行使自便解约权的适用范围及限制条件,探讨发包人行使自便解约权后对承包人的赔偿范围,同时提议参照国际惯例在相关合同示范文本中对发包人的自便解约权及对承包人的赔偿范围予以明确规定以减少不必要的合同纠纷。     

商品房买卖纠纷是否适用"双倍赔偿制度"

我国于1993年颁布实施的<消费者权益保护法>(以下简称<消法>)第49条突破了传统民事责任的拘束,率先确立了双倍赔偿制度(即惩罚性赔偿).但由于传统民法体系对惩罚性赔偿制度的排斥,加之我国现今的立法缺陷,导致实践操作中产生诸多疑惑.尤其是在现今社会发展的背景下,商品房买卖纠纷是否适用<消法>所规定的双倍赔偿制度成为争议的焦点.最高人民法院<关于审理商品房买卖合同纠纷案件适用法律若干问题的解释>第8条、第9条把"惩罚性赔偿原则"引入到了商品房买卖合同纠纷的处理中来.     

消法惩罚性赔偿的适用

《消费者权益保护法》既不同于民法,也不同于合同法。它所要保护的是作为个人的消费者的生存权及以生存权为基础的各项基本权利,它需要维护个人消费者与生产者、销售者之间不平等主体的利益平衡,它需要国家直接介入并行使公权力。正是由于《消法》的特殊性质,其规定了惩罚性赔偿,目的是保护经济活动中处于劣势地位的消费者,维护其合法权益,打击违反诚信原则的不法经营者。一、惩罚性赔偿的适用条件《消费者权益保护法》第49条规定:经营者提供商品或者服务有欺诈行为的,应当按照消费者的要求增加赔偿其受到的损失,增加赔偿的金额为消费者购买…     

关于代位求偿权的思考

代位求偿权制度是目前各国保险立法普遍确认的一项制度，即保险人依照法律或保险合同约定，对被保险人所遭受的损失进行赔偿后，依法取得向对财产损失负有责任的第三者进行追偿或取得被保险人对保险标的所有权的权利。保险代位求偿权制度的设立，可以使被保险人在发生保险事故时，及时地得到补偿，并且能够防止其因保险事故而得利；可以提高保险人的支付能力，促进保险业的良性循环：也可以使第三人对自己的行为有所承担，规范自己的行为。     

关于举办“构建农村和谐社会高层论坛”的启事

在英国，责任主体违法，不仅要承担对受害者的民事赔偿责任，还要根据违法程度和具体情况承受相应的行政处罚乃至刑事制裁。例如，根据《食品安全法》，一般违法行为根据具体情节处以5000英镑的罚款或3个月以内的监禁：销售不符合质量标准要求的食品或提供食品致人健康损害的，处以最高2万英镑的罚款或6个月监禁：违法情节和造成后果十分严重的，对违法者最高处以无上限罚款或两年监禁。     

我国适用惩罚性赔偿制度的法律争议

惩罚性损害赔偿,也称为示范性的赔偿或报复性的赔偿,一般认为,惩罚性赔偿是指由法庭所作出的赔偿数额超出了实际的损害数额的赔偿。这种损害赔偿金不仅是对原告人的补偿,而且也是对故意加害人的惩罚。美国著名的《谢尔曼法案》和《克莱顿法案》等都有关于惩罚性赔偿的规定。美国保护消费者方面的立法如联邦消费者信用保护法、职业安全与健康法等也规定了惩罚性损害赔偿。台湾在消费者权益保护法第51条中规定:“依本法所提之诉讼,因企业经济者之故意所致之损害,消费者得请求损害额三倍以下之惩罚性赔偿金;但因过失所致之损害,得请求损害额一…     

不容忽视:借款凭证的严肃性

借款凭证即借款合同和借据，是农村信用社开展信贷业务的基本法律文书。借款合同和借据成立后，贷款人按照合同和借据约定，要按时给借款人发放贷款；借款人则要按约定用途使用贷款，并按规定时间付给贷款人贷款本息。从法律意义上讲，借款凭证是贷款人与借款人建立法律关系的前提。合法合规有效的借款合同和借据，关系到信贷投向是否及时、准确、合理、安全、高效，也关系到农村信用社的形象及信誉。然而，在日常信贷业务实践中，有的农村信用社对借款合同和借据的重要性认识不够，为追求借款合同和借据的整洁，借款合同和借据都由信贷人员…     

浅议《食品安全法》中惩罚性赔偿制度

《食品安全法》中“消费者”“明知”的定义在实践适用中仍存在一定争议。同时,鉴于“明知”这一主观因素很难确定和证明,认为加快食品追溯体系的建设是关键,但追溯体系的建立还需要很长的时间。针对惩罚性赔偿制度中存在的问题进行探讨,提出了完善建议。     

借款合同违约责任条款设计

借款合同违约责任条款是经济合同中重要而复杂的一种条款，如何设计借款合同违约责任条款，更好地维护银行、信用社的利益，有着重要的现实意义。从我国经济法律制度和经济合同理论来看，违约责任分为法定的违约责任和约定的违约责任两类。法定的违约责任是指法律规定的违...     

基于工作进度的水利工程项目群进度延误经济惩罚模型

水利工程各项工作进度的实时控制是水利工程项目群进度管理的主要任务,而如何借助经济奖惩措施有效地控制项目群中各项工作进度是水利工程项目群进度管理的关键。根据水利工程各项工作进度延误对项目群的影响范围和影响程度,构建了水利工程项目群的子网络。重点研究了水利工程各项工作对本合同项目、项目群各子网络和项目群等工期的影响机理,构建了相应的经济惩罚函数,据此确定了水利工程各项工作和各个合同项目的经济惩罚金额。结合案例分析,阐述了经济惩罚模型的应用机理和方法。基于工作的水利工程项目群进度延误经济惩罚模型能够为科学、合理地确定合同项目各项工作以及各个合同项目的经济惩罚金额提供依据,同时为业主确定水利工程项目群中进度控制的关键合同项目、关键工作等奠定基础。     

Wildlife Damage and Agriculture: A Dynamic Analysis of Compensation Schemes

We study the environmental and economic consequences of introducing a program to compensate peasants for damages caused by wildlife. We show that the widely held belief that compensation induces wildlife conservation may be erroneous. In a partially open economy, compensation can lower the wildlife stock and result in a net welfare loss for local people. In an open economy, compensation can trigger wildlife extinction and also reduce welfare. We identify the conditions leading to a reduction of the wildlife stock and discuss the implications for current and planned compensation programs in Africa and Asia.     

Contract farming and smallholder incentives to produce high quality: experimental evidence from the Vietnamese dairy sector

In emerging markets for high‐value food products in developing countries, processing companies search for efficient ways to source raw material of high quality. One widely embraced approach is contract farming. But relatively little is known about the appropriate design of financial incentives in a small farm context. We use the example of the Vietnamese dairy sector to analyze the effectiveness of existing contracts between a processor and smallholder farmers in terms of incentivizing the production of high quality milk. A framed field experiment is conducted to evaluate the impact of two incentive instruments, a price penalty for low quality and a bonus for consistent high quality milk, on farmers’ investment in quality‐improving inputs. Statistical analysis suggests that the penalty drives farmers into higher input use, resulting in better output quality. The bonus payment generates even higher quality milk. We also find that input choice levels depend on farmers’ socio‐economic characteristics such as wealth, while individual risk preferences seem to be less important. Implications for the design of contracts with smallholders are discussed.     

Improvements in pesticide drift reduction technology (DRT) call for improving liability provisions to offer incentives for adoption

BackgroundThe widespread use of pesticides has contributed to increased crop productivity accompanied by problems of releasing toxic substances into the environment. One of the concerns is the release of pesticide spray drift that is carried to off-target properties causing injuries.ObjectivesIn 2016, the EPA released a generic verification protocol for pesticide drift reduction technology (DRT). With this protocol, applicators of pesticides can select verified products and equipment with the assurance that the technology will reduce the risk of spray drift damages, but there are inadequate incentives for its adoption.DiscussionDrift reduction technology can only reduce injuries to people, flora, and fauna if it is adopted by applicators. To address incentives for adoption, an analysis of liability provisions governing spray drift damages suggests that the jurisprudence governing liability might need updating to capture technological benefits. Two proposed legislative provisions are offered that would incorporate DRT into negligence law.ConclusionThrough the amendment of negligence law, liability provisions for pesticide spray drift damages can offer encouragement for applicators to adopt DRT.     

Quantitative micro-scale flood risk assessment in a section of the Trotuș River,Romania

This paper focuses on the estimation of direct damages caused by three flood scenarios with different return periods in the section Făgetul de Sus – Ghimeş – Palanca Pass of Trotuș River, with the aim of highlighting the need of improved land use plans. The damage for three land use classes (residential building, infrastructure and agriculture) were estimated using the damage curves developed by the European Joint Research Centre (JRC) as well as site specific maximum damage values. The data were processed with the help of the ArcMap 10.2 software and FloodRisk tool from QGIS software. Furthermore, the flood risk was assessed using the damage – probability curves, which associates the damage with the corresponding frequency of occurrence. This method was identified and adapted to the characteristics of the study area in order to develop a methodology of flood risk assessment that is answering the question: does the lack of land use plans increase the vulnerability and the flood damage? The results showed that the greatest damages are registered for the residential building land use class for a flood probability of 0.001. In this case the damages reach up to 60% on the scale range of deterioration factor, the total damage value being 2 million euros. For the same hazard probability the total registered damage value for roads is 7500 euro, for railways is around 12,000 euro, while for agriculture is around 84,000 euro. These results highlight the need of protection measures and land use plans development and implementation. Regarding the protection measures we consider that the egalitarianism would be the concept that should be applied in the study area and also an improved cooperation between government, specialized agencies and local authorities at local level would lead to a more efficient flood risk management process. The proposed methodology can be applied for micro-scale analysis, providing quantitative results regarding the flood damage and flood risk assessment. It includes a detailed vulnerability analysis of the elements-at-risk with the aim of developing a more comprehensive approach of flood risk assessment.     

Reasons why some irrigation water users fail to comply with water use regulations: A case study from Queensland,Australia

Non-compliance with regulation can be a major reason for policy ineffectiveness. Environmental non-compliance can cause environmental harm and undermine the sustainability of resource uses through, for example, overexploitation of water resources. If environmental non-compliance is identified as an issue, it is important to understand why it is occurring so that the causes can be effectively addressed. This paper reports empirical research conducted to identify the reasons why water users in two coastal irrigation areas in Queensland, Australia, may be taking water in excess of license conditions and thereby committing water theft. It applied the Table-of-Eleven (T11) framework, which distinguishes between ‘enforcement dimensions’, i.e., regulatory aspects meant to detect and deter non-compliance, and ‘spontaneous compliance’ dimensions. The research involved 67 water users of whom 24 participated in focus group discussions and 43 in face-to-face interviews. The research findings suggest that most water users are compliant with water rules principally because of strong spontaneous compliance, which is chiefly grounded in the belief that the rules are required to safeguard a common water resource. The research results suggest, however, that some water users may be intentionally taking water in excess of license conditions in order to maximize business profitability. Non-compliance is underpinned by perceived low probability of successful prosecution and a comparatively small penalty if a breach can indeed be proven. From a water management perspective, the findings highlight the critical role of ongoing education and communication efforts for maintaining high levels of spontaneous compliance. Stronger deterrents may be needed to address the intentional unlawful taking of water in the given context, including increasing penalties to ensure fines result in a net cost to offenders and reduction of water entitlements of repeat offenders. Improvements in water administrative processes can minimize the likelihood of offenders escaping a penalty.     

Forest cover change and flood hazards in India

Forests provide numerous environmental services such as watershed protection, nutrient cycling, pollution control, climatic regulation, carbon sequestration, flood mitigation, and protection from storms, landslides, and soil erosion. Degradation of forest resources is likely to cause adverse effects on the economy and environment both locally and globally. Further, it is observed that the natural forests do reduce the frequency and severity of floods as it traps water during heavy rainfall and releases the same slowly into streams reducing the run off. However, this link between forest covers and flood damages is still unclear and yet to be settled in empirical literatures. Also, the protective role of forests in Indian context has remained largely unexplored and this paper attempts to fill this research gap. The objective of this study is, therefore, to examine the impact of forest cover on the extent of flood damage in India controlling various social, economic and demographic aspects. The study uses secondary data across the Indian states for the period 1998–2011. The data were analyzed using the Poisson and ordinary least square (OLS) regression models. The findings suggest that forest cover in India has an inverse relationship with the flood damages. In addition, socio-economic factors such as literacy, per capita net state domestic product and population size have significant influence on the extent of flood damages. Hence, investments in forest protection and regeneration are necessary to restrict flood damages and protect human lives and properties.     

Least Squares and Entropy: A Penalty Function Perspective

Mathematical measures of entropy as defined by Shannon and cross entropy as defined by Kullback and Leibler are currently in vogue in the field of econometrics, primarily due to the comprehensive work of Golan, Judge, and Miller. An alternative interpretation of the entropy measure as a penalty function over deviations is presented, and a number of parallels are drawn with least squares estimators. It is demonstrated that both approaches may be applied to the general linear model. The causes of differences in estimated parameter values are described, and some suggestions for the formulation of entropy-based econometric problems are presented.     

Microeconometric analysis of wine grape supply contracts in Australia*

This paper examines wine grape supply contracts used in the main grape growing regions of Australia. An empirical analysis provides insight into specific aspects of contract design and implementation. Statistical analyses of sample data reveal differences between regions in contract specifications. Lower quality grape growing regions place a greater reliance on grape quality assessment to determine bonus/penalty payments compared to higher quality regions. Contracts in higher quality regions place greater emphasis on explicit winery involvement and direction in vineyard management. Results indicate that longer duration contracts are more inclusive in terms of the number of clauses included. Evidence of risk shifting (i.e., winery to grower) for high quality grapes is reported, where the price received by growers is determined by the bottle price of the wine produced.     

违约责任与侵权责任的竞合:经济上的赔偿——对《农村土地承包法》第56条的分析

从违约案例出发,讨论《农村土地承包法》与《合同法》中违约责任与侵权责任的竞合及原因,论述两者的本质属性不同及立法区别,并对具体的法律条文提出了修改、完善的建议。违约责任因违反约定义务而承担责任,侵权责任因违反法定义务而承担责任,前者侵害履行利益即期待利益,后者侵权固有利益即现有利益。