posted on 2019-10-01, 11:37authored byPeter Jaffey
The recent English Court of Appeal case of Experience Hendrix v PPX Enterprises
Ltd1
is the latest to consider the law concerning the liability of a contracting party in
respect of the profits of a breach of contract, following the decision of the House of
Lords in Attorney-General v Blake.
2
The issue is of practical importance and
theoretical interest. In this note I will outline what I argue is the best interpretation of
Blake and its theoretical basis,3
and consider its implications for Hendrix. I will deal
first with the claim for all the profits of a breach, and then with the lesser claim for
some fraction of the defendant’s benefit, conceived of as a sort of deemed licence fee
or quid pro quo for breach. The former was described in Blake and Hendrix as an
“account of profits”, but I will refer to it as “disgorgement”.4
The latter I will refer to
as “licence fee damages”.5
I will argue that these are distinct types of claim, although
in Blake and Hendrix they were regarded as variants of a single type of claim.
History
Citation
Journal of Contract Law, 2004, 20, pp. 57-73 (17)
Author affiliation
/Organisation/COLLEGE OF SOCIAL SCIENCES, ARTS AND HUMANITIES/Leicester Law School