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Encyclopedia > Trespass to chattels
Tort law
Part of the common law series
Intentional torts
Assault  · Battery
False arrest  · False imprisonment
Intentional infliction of emotional distress
Property torts
Trespass to chattels
Trespass to land  · Conversion
Detinue  · Trover
Dignitary and economic torts
Slander and libel  · Invasion of privacy
Abuse of process  · Malicious prosecution
Fraud  · Tortious interference
Defenses to intentional torts
Consent  · Necessity
Self defense and defense of others
Negligent torts
Negligence  · Negligent hiring
Negligent entrustment
Negligent infliction of emotional distress
Doctrines affecting liability
Duty of care  · Standard of care
Proximate cause  · Res ipsa loquitur
Calculus of negligence  · Eggshell skull
Vicarious liability  · Attractive nuisance
Comparative responsibility  ·
Duties owed to visitors to property
Trespassers  · Licensees  · Invitees
Defenses to negligence
Contributory negligence
Comparative negligence
Assumption of risk  · Intervening cause
Strict liability torts
Ultrahazardous activities
Products liability
Nuisance
Other areas of the common law
Contract law  · Property law
Wills and trusts
Criminal law  · Evidence

Trespass to chattels is a tort whereby the infringing party has intentionally (or in Australia negligently) interfered with another person's lawful possession of a chattel. The interference can be any physical contact with the chattel in a quantifiable way, or any dispossession of the chattel (whether by taking it, destroying it, or barring the owner's access to it). As with all intentional torts, it is "actionable per se" so no proof of damage is required. Image File history File links SmallLadyJustice. ... In the common law, a tort is a civil wrong for which the law provides a remedy. ... This article concerns the common-law legal system, as contrasted with the civil law legal system; for other meanings of the term, within the field of law, see common law (disambiguation). ... An intentional tort is a category of torts that describes a civil wrong resulting from an intentional act on the part of the tortfeasor. ... At common law, battery is the tort of intentionally (or in Australia negligently) and voluntarily touching another person without lawful excuse or justification. ... False arrest is a common law tort, where a plaintiff alleges he or she was held in custody without reasonable cause or an order issued by a court of appropriate jurisdiction. ... False Imprisonment is a common law tort, and possibly a misdemeanor crime, wherein a person is intentionally confined without legal authority. ... Intentional infliction of emotional distress (IIED) is a common law tort claim for intentional conduct that results in extreme emotional distress. ... Trespass to land is a common law tort that is committed when an individual intentionally (or in Australia negligently) enters the land of another without lawful excuse. ... In law, conversion is a tort that deals with the wrongful interference with goods. ... In tort law, detinue is an action for the wrongful detention of goods from an individual who has a greater right to immediate possession than the current possessor. ... Trover signifies finding. ... In English and American law, and systems based on them, libel and slander are two forms of defamation (or defamation of character), which is the tort or delict of making a false statement that negatively affects someones reputation. ... The right to privacy is the right to control information about yourself in two situations. ... Abuse of process is a common law intentional tort. ... Malicious prosecution is a common law intentional tort. ... Bold text Tortious interference, in the common law of tort, occurs when a person intentionally damages the plaintiffs contractual or other business relationships. ... Consent (as a term of jurisprudence) is a possible justification against civil or criminal liability. ... In tort law, the defense of necessity is divided between private necessity (where a person commits a tort for the defense of his own property) and public necessity (where a person commits a tort for the public good, such as cutting down someone elses trees to stop the spread... Self defense and defense of others (sometimes called alter ego defense or defense of a third person) are a pair of legal theories under which otherwise tortious or illegal acts may be justified when committed for the purpose of protecting oneself, or for the purpose of protecting another person. ... In law, negligence is a type of tort or delict that can be either criminal or civil in nature. ... Negligent hiring is a cause of action in tort law that arises where one party is held liable for negligence because they placed another party in a position of authority or responsibility, and an injury resulted because of this placement. ... Negligent entrustment is a cause of action in tort law that arises where one party (the entrustor) is held liable for negligence because they negligently provided another party (the entrustee) with a dangerous instrumentality, and the entrusted party caused injury to a third party with that instrumentality. ... The tort of negligent infliction of emotional distress (NIED) is a controversial legal theory and is not accepted in many United States jurisdictions. ... In law, a duty of care is the legal requirement that a person exercise a reasonable standard of care to prevent injury of others. ... In tort law, the standard of care is the degree of prudence and caution required of an individual who is under a duty of care. ... In the law, a proximate cause is an event sufficiently related to a legally recognizable injury to be held the cause of that injury. ... Res ipsa loquitur is a legal term from the Latin meaning literally, The thing speaks for itself. The doctrine is applied to claims which, as a matter of law, do not have to be explained beyond the obvious facts. ... The calculus of negligence is a term coined by Judge Learned Hand and describes a process for determining whether a legal duty of care has been breached (see negligence). ... The eggshell skull rule (or thin-skull rule) is a legal doctrine used in both tort law and criminal law that holds an individual liable for all consequences resulting from their activities leading to an injury to another person, even if the victim suffers unusual damages due to a pre... Vicarious liability is a form of strict, secondary liability that arises under the common law doctrine of agency – respondeat superior – the responsibility of the superior for the acts of their subordinate and can be distinguished from contributory liability, another form of secondary liability, which is rooted in the tort theory... Under the attractive nuisance doctrine of the law of torts, a landowner may be held liable for injuries to children trespassing on the land if the injury is caused by a hazardous object or condition on the land that is likely to attract children, who are unable to appreciate the... Comparative responsibility is a doctrine of tort law that compares the fault of each party in a law suit for a single injury. ... Trespasser (released in 1998) was a game taking place in the world of Jurassic Park. ... A licensee is a term used in the law of torts to describe a person who is on the property of another, despite the fact that the property is not open to the general public, because the owner of the property has allowed the licensee to enter. ... An invitee is a term used in the law of torts to describe a person who is on the property of another because that property owner has chosen to hold the property open to some portion of the general public, because the owner of the property has allowed the licensee... Contributory negligence is a common law defence to a claim or action in tort. ... Comparative negligence is a system of apportioning recovery for a tort based on a comparison of the plaintiffs negligence with the defendants. ... This is a defense in the law of torts. ... An intervening cause is a potential defense to the tort of negligence, if it is an unforseeable, and therefore superseding intervening cause, rather than a foreseeable intervening cause. ... Strict liability is a legal doctrine in tort law that makes a person responsible for the damages caused by their actions regardless of culpability (fault) or mens rea. ... An ultrahazardous activity in the common law of torts is one that is so inherently dangerous that a person engaged in such an activity can be held strictly liable for injuries caused to another person, even if the person engaged in the activity took every reasonable precaution to prevent others... Product liability encompasses a number of legal claims that allow an injured party to recover financial compensation from the manufacturer or seller of a product. ... Nuisance is a common law tort. ... A contract is any legally-enforceable promise or set of promises made between parties. ... Property law is the law that governs the various forms of ownership in real property (land as distinct from personal or movable possessions) and in personal property, within the common law legal system. ... In the law, a will or testament is a document by which a person (the testator) regulates the rights of others over his property or family after death. ... The law of trusts and estates is generally considered the body of law which governs the management of personal affairs and the disposition of property of an individual in anticipation and the event of such persons incapacity or death, also known as the law of successions in civil law. ... Criminal law (also known as penal law) is the body of law that punishes criminals for committing offences against the state. ... The law of evidence governs the use of testimony (eg. ... In the common law, a tort is a civil wrong for which the law provides a remedy. ... Personal property is a type of property. ...


The origin of the concept comes from the original writ of trespass de bonis asportatis. As in most other forms of trespass, remedy can only be obtained once it is proven that there was direct interference regardless of damage being done, and the infringing party has failed to disprove either negligence or intent. In law, a writ is a formal written order issued by a government entity in the name of the sovereign power. ... A sign warning against trespassing In law, trespass can be: the criminal act of going into somebody elses land or property without permission; it is also a civil law tort that may be a valid cause of action to seek judicial relief and possibly damages through a lawsuit. ... A remedy is the solution or amelioration of a problem or difficulty. ...


In some common law countries like the United States and Canada, a remedy for trespass to chattels can only be obtained if the direct interference was sufficiently substantial to amount to dispossession, or alternatively where there had been an injury proximately related to the chattel. (See Restatement (Second) of Torts, 1965.)


United States Law: The Restatement (Second) of Torts § 217 defines trespass to chattels as “intentionally… dispossessing another of the chattel, or using or intermeddling with a chattel in the possession of another.” Harm to personal property or diminution of its quality, condition or value as a result of a defendant’s use can also result in liability under § 218(b) of the Restatement. In other words, any action that intentionally interferes with a plaintiff’s possessory interest in his personal property may be subject to a trespass to chattels claim.


The trespass to chattels cause of action, frequently asserted in recent years against Internet advertisers and email spammers, is often included in complaints against spyware companies.


To summarize, the basic elements of a claim of trespass to chattels are: 1) the lack of the plaintiff’s consent to the trespass, 2) actual harm incurred by the plaintiff as a result of the trespass, and 3) the intentionality of the defendant’s actions.


Elements: a)Lack of consent A vendor can attempt to dispute a trespass claim on the grounds that the user consented to the terms of the contract. Even if consent was given for certain access, a user may still have a valid trespass to chattels complaint if the vendor has exceeded the contractual terms, if the contract is found to misrepresent the actual functioning of the product, or if the consent has been withdrawn. A vendor can be held liable for “any use exceeding the consent” given.” (Restatement (Second) of Torts § 256) b)Actual harm The precise criteria for ascertaining actual harm varies among states, in California, for instance, an electronic message can be deemed a trespass where the message interferes with the target computer’s operation, as long as a plaintiff can demonstrate either actual hardware damage or actual impaired functioning (see: Intel v. Hamidi, 30 Cal.4th 1342 (2003)). But the general concept of requiring impaired computer functioning has been adopted consistently and in showing impaired computer functioning, courts have usually emphasized system unavailability. c)Intentionality In clarifying the meaning of intentionality in the context of a trespass to chattels claim, § 217 of the Restatement (Second) of Torts states that “intention is present when an act is done for the purpose of using or otherwise intermeddling with a chattel or with knowledge that such an intermeddling will, to a substantial certainty, result from the act,” and that, furthermore, “[i]t is not necessary that the actor should know or have reason to know that such intermeddling is a violation of the possessory rights of another.”


Damages from a trespass claim are limited to the actual harm sustained by the plaintiff (which can include economic loss consequent on the trespass - e.g. loss of profit on a damaged chattel). In cases of dispossession, the plaintiff is always entitled to damages if they can prove the dispossession occurred, even if no quantifiable harm can be proven. Damages, in law has two different meanings. ...


A related tort is conversion, which involves an exercise of control over another's chattel justifying restitution of the chattel's full value. Some actions constitute trespass and conversion; in these cases, a plaintiff must choose which claim to make based on what amount of damages they seek to recover. In law, conversion is a tort that deals with the wrongful interference with goods. ... Personal property is a type of property. ... Personal property is a type of property. ...


See also


  Results from FactBites:
 
trespass: Definition, Synonyms and Much More from Answers.com (3862 words)
Trespass is one of the ancient forms of action that arose under the common law of England as early as the thirteenth century.
As trespass developed into a means of compelling the defendant to compensate the plaintiff for injury to his property interests, it took two forms: an action for trespass on real property and an action for injury to personal property.
Trespassers are responsible for nearly all the consequences of their unlawful entry, including those that could not have been anticipated or are the result of nothing more wrongful than the trespass itself.
Burk, The Trouble With Trespass (1482 words)
Trespass to chattels is a somewhat obscure tort action arising out of unauthorized dispossession, use, or interference with the tangible property of another.
Trespass to chattels exists as "the little brother of conversion." The gravamen of both actions lies in the dispossession of the property from its owner -- in conversion, the dispossession is total; in trespass to chattels the dispossession is only partial.
Note that this move cuts trespass to chattels free from its moorings of dispossession or the equivalent, allowing the court free rein to hunt for "impairment.".
  More results at FactBites »


 

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