Yeah, actuaries look at statistics and determine relative financial risks and benefits of a particular course of action. In the example I gave, the course of action is "remake 'The Hidden Fortress' as a space sci-fi fantasy movie" and the actuaries plug in various values for copyright and intellectual property lawsuit risks and costs, potential revenue from the new movie and give predictions for what level of copying (or other risky behavior) is acceptable to reduce costs below the projected revenue without risking a costly lawsuit. Or maybe they just recommend buying the rights as cheaper than the potential cost.