If Berkley did not breach the contract, Naval would not have expected or received any of Berkley's profits from their paperback sales. The proper damages owed to Naval were the actual damages calculation of approximately $35,000. The court's calculation operated on the premise that but for Berkley's breach, Naval would have sold the same number of books that it did the month before. Though the evidence showed that the hardcover sales were in decline in September and the number was purely hypothetical, the court believed the uncertainty to this hypothesis was to "lay at the door of the wrongdoer" who altered the course of events. Berkley had to bear the risk of possible over-calculation. United States Naval Institute v. Charter Communications stands for the proposition that the purpose of contract damages is to put the injured party in the position they would have been if there had been no breach. Punitive damages or damages to punish the breaching party are not recoverable under notions of contract law. A court is to enforce a remedy for the injured party's loss, not the defendant's gain. References United States contract case law 1991 in United States case law United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit cases Tom Clancy Book publishing in the United States United States lawsuits United States Naval Institute