Originally Posted by
Steve in Olympia
You are misusing these terms. It is not "unlawful" to violate a contract. It is "unlawful" to violate a statute (and that violation may be either criminal or civil, depending on the statute).
While the failure to fulfill a contract may have civil remedies, that doesn't make it unlawful.
An airline may prohibit the sale of miles, that doesn't make it an unlawful act.
I think unlawful is properly used to describe breach of contract because it exposes one to civil liability in largely the same way that non-criminal torts do. Wouldn't you agree that patent infringement is unlawful? What difference does it really make to the defendant if the source of that civil liability is statutory or contractual?