Business Law Chapter 6

Assault

An _______ is any intentional and unexcused threat of immediate harmful or offensive contact, including words or acts that create in another person a reasonable apprehension of harmful contact.

Intentional Tort

An ________, as the term implies, requires intent.

Slander

Breaching the duty of refraining from making false, defamatory statements of fact about others, orally involves the tort of _______.

Libel

Breaching this duty in writing or other permanent form (such as a digital recording) involves the tort of ________.

Spam

Businesses and individuals alike are targets of spam. _______ refers to the unsolicited "junk e-mails" that flood virtual mailboxes with advertisements, solicitations, and other messages

Actionable

Capable as serving as the basis of a lawsuit.

Puffery

For fraud to occur, more than mere _____ or seller's talk, must be involved.

Privilege

In some circumstances, a person will not be liable for defamatory statements because she or he enjoys a _______, or immunity.

Business Tort

Most torts can occur in any context, but a few torts, referred to as ______, apply only to wrongful interference with the business rights of others.

Punitive Damages

Occasionally, the courts may also award _______ in tort cases to punish the wrongdoer and deter others from similar wrongdoing.

Public Figure

Public officials who exercise substantial governmental power and any persons in the public limelight are considered _____.

Tortfeasor

The _______ (the one committing the tort) must intend to commit an act, the consequences of which interfere with the personal or business interests of another in a way not permitted by law.

Battery

The completion of the act that caused the apprehension, if it results in harm to the plaintiff, is a ______, which is defined as an unexcused and harmful or offensive physical contact intentionally performed.

Slander of Quality

The publication of false information about another's product, alleging that it is not what its seller claims, constitutes the tort of _______, or trade libel.

Trade Libel

The publication of false information about another's product, alleging that it is not what its seller claims, constitutes the tort of slander of quality, or _______.

Fraudulent Misrepresentation

The tort of ______, or fraud, involves intentional deceit for personal gain.

Trespass to Land

The tort of ________ occurs any time a person, without permission, enters onto, above, or below the surface of land that is owned by another; causes anything to enter onto the land; or remains on the land or permits anything to remain on it.

Appropriation

The use of another person's name, likeness, or other identifying characteristic, without permission and for the benefit of the user, constitutes the tort of ______.

Actual Malice

To be made with _______, a statement must be made with either knowledge of its falsity or a reckless disregard of the truth

Cyber Tort

Torts can also be committed in the online environment. Torts committed via the Internet are often called _______.

Tort

Two notions serve as the basis of all ____: wrongs and compensation.

Slander of Titles

When a publication falsely denies or casts doubt on another's legal ownership of property, resulting in financial loss to the property's owner, the tort of __________ occurs.

Conversion

Whenever a person wrongfully possesses or uses the personal property of another without permission, the tort of ________ occurs.

Trespass to Personal Property

Whenever any individual wrongfully takes or harms the personal property of another or otherwise interferes with the lawful owner's possession and enjoyment of personal property, trespass to ________ occurs.

Defamation

_______ of character involves wrongfully hurting a person's good reputation. The law imposes a general duty on all persons to refrain from making false, defamatory statements of fact about others.

Disparagement of Property

________ occurs when economically injurious falsehoods are made about another's product or property rather than about another's reputation (as in the tort of defamation).

Compensatory Damages

_________ are intended to compensate or reimburse a plaintiff for actual losses—that is, to make the plaintiff whole and put her or him in the same position that she or he would have been in had the tort not occurred.