damnum absque injuria

damnum absque injuria

DAMNUM ABSQUE INJURIA. A loss or damage without injury.
2. There are cases when the act of one man may cause a damage or loss to another, and for which the latter has no remedy; he is then said to have received damnum absque injuria; as, for example, if a man should set up a school in the neighborhood of another school, and, by that means, deprive the former of its patronage; or if a man should build a mill along side of another, and consequently reduce his custom. 9 Pick. 59, 528.
3. Another instance may be given of the case where a man using proper care and diligence, while excavating for a foundation, injures the adjoining house, owing to the unsuitable materials used in such house; here the injury is damnum absque injuria.
4. When a man slanders another by publishing the truth, the person slandered is said to have sustained loss without injury. Bac. Ab. Actions on the Case, C Dane's Ab. Index, h.t.