Case Digest (G.R. No. L-9300)
Facts:
Mariano A. Albert v. University Publishing Co., Inc., G.R. No. L-9300. April 18, 1958, the Supreme Court En Banc, Padilla, J., writing for the Court.Plaintiff-appellee Mariano A. Albert (the author) and defendant-appellant University Publishing Co., Inc. executed a written agreement on July 19, 1948, by which the defendant acquired an exclusive right to publish the plaintiff’s manuscript of commentaries on the Revised Penal Code for a fixed period and agreed to pay a total of P30,000 in eight quarterly installments of P3,750 beginning 15 July 1948. The contract also incorporated liquidated shares due the plaintiff from earlier agreements (May 21, 1946) and contemplated the sale of additional reprinted copies; paragraph 7 required delivery of the manuscript in final form not later than December 31, 1948, subject to a proviso for additions of late Supreme Court decisions.
The defendant paid only P7,000 in several installments between July and December 1948 and then ceased payments. The plaintiff produced a carbon copy (Exhibit D) of a December 16, 1948 letter advising the defendant that the manuscript was “at your disposal,” and other letters of demand followed (April, June and August 1949). The defendant’s president denied receipt of the December 16 and April 27 letters but admitted receiving later correspondence of June 6 and August 15, 1949; the defendant asserted nonperformance by the plaintiff (failure to deliver the manuscript by December 31, 1948) as justification for withholding further payments and asserted a counterclaim which the trial court dismissed.
The Court of First Instance of Manila found for the plaintiff, ordered the defendant to pay P23,000 plus interest from filing of the complaint and costs, and dismissed the defendant’s counterclaim. The case was certified to the Supreme Court by the Court of Appeals because th...(Subscriber-Only)
Issues:
- Did the plaintiff perform his obligation to deliver the manuscript by December 31, 1948, so as to excuse the defendant from further payments?
- Did the defendant breach the contract by failing to pay the agreed installments?
- If the defendant breached, are the liquidated damages claimed by the plaintiff enforceable in ful...(Subscriber-Only)
Ruling:
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Ratio:
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Doctrine:
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