The monolith wasn't an approved sculpture, and so it can best be classified as litter. Can someone "steal" litter, or did someone simply volunteer to clean up the park?
If you forget your backpack, is it considered "litter" for the taking? Unknown large objects should be left alone until you know their back story. Report it to the authorities if you have concern. Otherwise, hands off.
If you forget your backpack, is it considered "litter" for the taking?
I suspect you are dealing with people who think "finders keepers" is law, when its not even remotely true when the law gets involved.
You find an unattended backpack? Still not yours.
You find an unattended purse? Still not yours.
You find an unattended wallet? Still not yours.
You find an unattended $20 bill? Still not yours.
You find an unattended candy wrapper? Still not yours.
You find an unattended plastic bottle? Still not yours.
You find an unattended bottle cap? Still not yours.
This is true even when the land these things are found on happens to be your own.
The fact that there is an enormous number of cases of this that the law does not get involved with, where the "finders keepers" theory just happens to work out, doesnt change the facts that if its not yours then its not yours.
"The fact that there is an enormous number of cases of this that the law does not get involved with, where the "finders keepers" theory just happens to work out, doesnt change the facts that if its not yours then its not yours."
You find an unattended candy wrapper? Still not yours.
You find an unattended plastic bottle? Still not yours.
You find an unattended bottle cap? Still not yours.
Legally, if you pick them up, those will indeed be treated as yours if you put them back down.
Just try it.
Go into a national park
pick up a back of candy wrappers, plastic bottles, and bottle caps
There is no hard and fast rule of ownership in all cases. If there were we wouldn't need a vast global legal system and an entire industry of lawyers making their living on figuring out who owns what.
Entitlement is mostly irrelevant to utility. You don't need to own something, for it to be useful.
I may not own this bottle of water, but if I drink it it still works to prevent dehydration. Accounting be damned. Better to drink that water, as all law is useless to me if it binds me against my own interests.
While you correctly point out the legal complexities which have arisen surrounding an original “finders keepers” declaration of intent, it is also important you don’t lose sight of the “losers weepers” codicil.
If what you find is reasonably construed as litter, then nobody is going to fine you for picking it up. Your plastic bottle and bottle cap examples are dumb.
In all your other examples, the typical means of processing is that you take it to the police and get some kind of receipt for it, and if nobody claims it, it's yours. So it's not yours right away, but it could be yours.
Top Ten Things Overheard At The ANSI C Draft Committee Meetings:
(5) All right, who's the wiseguy who stuck this trigraph stuff in
here?
Was it truly stolen? (Score:2)
Re:Was it truly stolen? (Score:1)
If you forget your backpack, is it considered "litter" for the taking? Unknown large objects should be left alone until you know their back story. Report it to the authorities if you have concern. Otherwise, hands off.
Re:Was it truly stolen? (Score:5, Insightful)
If you forget your backpack, is it considered "litter" for the taking?
I suspect you are dealing with people who think "finders keepers" is law, when its not even remotely true when the law gets involved.
You find an unattended backpack? Still not yours.
You find an unattended purse? Still not yours.
You find an unattended wallet? Still not yours.
You find an unattended $20 bill? Still not yours.
You find an unattended candy wrapper? Still not yours.
You find an unattended plastic bottle? Still not yours.
You find an unattended bottle cap? Still not yours.
This is true even when the land these things are found on happens to be your own.
The fact that there is an enormous number of cases of this that the law does not get involved with, where the "finders keepers" theory just happens to work out, doesnt change the facts that if its not yours then its not yours.
Re: (Score:2)
"The fact that there is an enormous number of cases of this that the law does not get involved with, where the "finders keepers" theory just happens to work out, doesnt change the facts that if its not yours then its not yours."
I'm an high seas pirate, you insensitive clod!
Oh! and Arrr!
Half of your examples are wrong. (Score:1)
You find an unattended candy wrapper? Still not yours. You find an unattended plastic bottle? Still not yours. You find an unattended bottle cap? Still not yours.
Legally, if you pick them up, those will indeed be treated as yours if you put them back down.
Just try it.
He'll correct your misconception very quickly.
Re: (Score:2)
Only accurate in given (simple) circumstances. How hard can it be to just google this for the basics?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/... [wikipedia.org]
There is no hard and fast rule of ownership in all cases. If there were we wouldn't need a vast global legal system and an entire industry of lawyers making their living on figuring out who owns what.
Re: Was it truly stolen? (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
While you correctly point out the legal complexities which have arisen surrounding an original “finders keepers” declaration of intent, it is also important you don’t lose sight of the “losers weepers” codicil.
Re: Was it truly stolen? (Score:1)
Wait bottle caps are up for grabs. Never leave an unattended caps stash behind!
Re: (Score:2)
If what you find is reasonably construed as litter, then nobody is going to fine you for picking it up. Your plastic bottle and bottle cap examples are dumb.
In all your other examples, the typical means of processing is that you take it to the police and get some kind of receipt for it, and if nobody claims it, it's yours. So it's not yours right away, but it could be yours.