Copyright Damages and Statistics

This paper discusses the statistical issues that arise in conducting an economic damages analysis in the context of a litigation matter involving copyrights. Calculating damages in copyright cases turns out to be a natural application for econometric modelling methods. Surprisingly, elementary statistical issues can be a source of significant debate between the experts in such matters. In this paper, we present a case study and illustrate how issues such as interpretation of p -values and what "rejection of the null hypothesis" really "means" in such matters.     

缺陷产品召回制度应实行惩罚性赔偿

惩罚性赔偿不应仅适用于欺诈性的消费关系：在缺陷产品召回制度中，对于主观上有严重的过错、行为具有反社会性和道德上的可责难性并已造成实际损害的经营者也应实行惩罚性赔偿。这样做，可以有效地遏制系统性产品缺陷的恶意制造者，维护公众安全；也有利于建立以人为本、诚实信用、和谐发展的社会经济秩序。全面保护消费者的合法权益；同时，有助于我国尽快顺应世界经济贸易发展的潮流，提高产品的国际竞争力。     

违约损害赔偿制度的比较法研究

英关普通法和大陆民法法系在违约救济措施上存在较大的差异。英美法院选择判决损害赔偿,充分发挥金钱的弥补作用;而大陆法系国家更多地是判令违约方实际履行。在司法实践中对违约损害赔偿的归类上,英美法系和大陆法系采纳的标准不同,但基本上可以划分为实际损害和期待利益的丧失两类。在对违约损害赔偿的目的、违约损害赔偿适用的限制上,两大法系在立法及司法上表现出极大的趋同倾向。     

Lysine and Price Fixing: How Long? How Severe?

In October 1996 the Archer Daniels Midland Company(ADM) pleaded guilty to criminal price fixing withrespect to sales of lysine and agreed to pay a $70million fine. Earlier, in August 1996 two Japaneseproducers and a Korean producer of lysine had agreedto plead guilty to criminal price fixing charges. Andearlier still, in July 1996 ADM and the two Japanesecompanies settled the civil suits filed by some harmedbuyers by agreeing to pay a sum of $45 million.It is this last event that serves as the focus forthis paper. The adequacy of the settlement amount wasa major area of dispute. Connor (1996, 1997, 1998)has claimed that the trebled damages to lysinepurchasers were an order of magnitude larger. Crucialto Connor's conclusions are his assumptions as to thetime period during which the conspiracy had an effecton prices and the but for price that otherwise wouldhave prevailed in the absence of the conspiracy. Thispaper will argue that Connor substantiallyover-estimated the period of the conspiracy andunder-estimated the but-for price.     

论惩罚性赔偿公益基金之构建——以法经济学为前提

从法律经济学的视角观之,惩罚性赔偿实乃具有公益性,且依靠“私人执法”的实现形式有助于激励群众维护公益从而降低执法成本,因此,惩罚性赔偿在法经济学上具有完整正当性.在此前提下借鉴美国侵权法的改革举措,可知建立惩罚性赔偿公益基金以使更多受害人获益是该制度正当性的逻辑结果和客观要求,也是侵权法发展的重要趋势.在制度设计上,应...     

现代成本控制战略与方法

对于因重大误解而订立的合同 ,宜作为可变更或可撤销的合同处理 ,而不宜作为不成立之合同、无效的合同或只能单纯撤销的合同处理 ;因重大误解而撤销合同或变更合同的 ,误解人应赔偿相对人信赖利益的损失 ,此种责任属于缔约过失责任 ,但该赔偿责任受到一定的限制。     

Optimal Sharing of Foodborne Illness Prevention between Consumers and Industry: The Effect of Regulation and Liability

Consumers and the food industry can both prevent foodborne illness. Two questions are explored: what is the socially optimal level of preventative effort by each and can tort and regulatory instruments induce such behavior? Analysis is complicated by two aspects of food safety technology: one party's effort can affect the marginal effectiveness of the other party's effort and damage functions can be nonconvex. Previous analysis of accidents under torts and regulation fails to consider these generalizations. Indeed, results concerning the ability of tort and regulatory instruments to induce first-best and second-best behavior often contradict previous results in the literature.     

INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY LITIGATION ACTIVITY IN THE USA

Abstract.  Brand names or trademarks carry incredible economic power and prestige. There is increasing recognition by world bodies that intellectual property (IP), whether manifested in patents, trademarks, copyrights or trade secrets, is highly valuable and must be protected through robust IP enforcement. The USA is an interesting natural laboratory as patent, trademark and copyright litigation battles have been raging domestically for some time. The paper discusses the four main forms of IP assets, the legal remedies that are available to enforce the property rights inherent in each type of IP asset, the basic damages theory relating to each form of IP, and how damages may be calculated when each type of asset is presumed to be infringed. The increased recognition of the value of IP has led to stronger enforcement of IP protection, an increase in IP litigation, and growing policy actions that are focused on how that protection should be manifested. An empirical analysis of how the IP litigation activity in the USA has changed over time is also presented.     

医疗纠纷中引入惩罚性赔偿之探讨

医疗纠纷损害赔偿作为一种民事损害赔偿,应引入惩罚性赔偿。但应仅限于故意或恶意的行为、严重不负责的行为和重大过失行为,以更好地保障公民的生命健康权。     

关于定金担保的几个问题

定金作为合同担保的一种方式,经常被加以运用,但由于现行法律这方面的规定较为简单,在实践中易产生理解上的分歧而导致诉讼。文章认为,关于定金担保的标的物,除金钱以外可以扩大至价值具有可度量性的有体物;关于定金合同的成立必须以主合同的成立为前提,主合同不成立,定金合同亦不能成立;关于违约金或定金罚则的选择,应根据合同的约定、违约形态、违约发生阶段或者当事人损失的大小等来加以选择;关于定金罚则的适用,则必须以定金合同的有效为前提,而定金合同的无效,又存在全部无效和部分无效等情形。