Wooster Republican Printing v. Channel 17, Inc.

Wooster (plaintiff) contracted to buy Channel 17 (defendant), including its transmitter tower, with a provision specifying specific performance as the remedy for breach given the absence of an adequate legal remedy. When Channel 17 breached, Wooster sued for specific performance, presenting uncontested evidence of the station's uniqueness. Channel 17 argued full performance was impossible because the tower sat on land it merely leased (with an option to purchase) from a third party, and that the parties had made a mutual mistake since the liquidated-damages clause precluded specific performance. Wooster offered to accept an assignment of the leasehold and purchase option instead of full fee ownership of the tower, with a corresponding price abatement.

Whether specific performance is available as a remedy for breach of contract if the contract can be substantially, though not identically, performed.