DAMNUM ABSQUE INJURIA - A loss
or damage without injury.
There are cases when the act of one man may cause
a damage or loss to another, but for which the latter
has no remedy. He is then said to have received damnum
absque injuria. 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 its business.
Another instance may be given of the case where a
man excavating for a foundation with proper care and
diligence, injures the adjoining house due to the
unsuitable materials used in such house; here the
injury is damnum absque injuria.
When a man slanders another by publishing the truth,
the person slandered is said to have sustained loss
without injury.
