United States Naval Institute v. Charter Communications, Inc.

After assigning rights in The Hunt for Red October to the Naval Institute, which licensed exclusive paperback publication rights to Berkley with a restriction against release before October 1985, Berkley shipped the paperback early enough that retailers sold it by mid-September, allegedly cannibalizing hardcover sales; Naval sought Berkley's full profits from the early sales as copyright infringement damages, while the district court instead awarded Naval's own lost hardcover profit plus prejudgment interest.