Everything about The Homestead Principle totally explained
The
Homestead principle in law is the concept that one can gain ownership of a property that currently has no owner by using that property.
Homesteading laws applied to land
In the 19th century, a number of governments formalized the homestead principle by passing laws that would grant property of land plots of certain standardized size to people who would settle on it and "improve" it in certain ways (typically, built their residence and started to farm at least a certain fraction of the land). Typically, such laws would apply to territories recently "cleansed" (or in the process of being
cleansed) from its indigenous inhabitants, and which the state would want to have populated by white farmers. Examples:
Implications for other property types
In
international law as well as
U.S. law, there are various ways in which one can establish ownership of a piece of property. The most obvious and direct application of the homestead principle is a situation in which a group of explorers discover some previously unknown land and build a literal homestead there. However, in recent times, the homestead principle has also been applied to other things besides land: for example an item of property, or a
non-tangible asset such as a business name. For instance, someone creates a company and names it something unique and new like, "Margaret's Cupcake and Squid Mashing Factory", and advertises this company name for a while, using it to do business (successfully or not). They have ownership of their company name by the Homestead principle. Then, if they get successful, and someone else creates a new company with the same name ("Margaret's Cupcake and Squid Mashing Factory"), Margaret can sue for
trademark infringement and probably win.
In
maritime law,
salvage rights are extended to finders of
shipwrecks or other abandoned property.
In
2001,
Gregory W. Nemitz made a claim in
U.S. Federal Court on
433 Eros (a fairly large
asteroid - 13 x 13 x 33km). His claim was based on a variation of the homestead principle, which states that persons (or organizations) gain ownership of unowned things based on the amount of
equity they invest in that thing. His claim was also based on the fact that the U.S. Federal Government can't own any object in
outer space (by obligation under the
Outer Space Treaty, which carries the force of law). He, as a private citizen, claimed the property based on the equity of his legal acquisition work, private study of, and interest in the property. His claim and subsequent appeal were denied, but they illustrated a problem with the homestead principle: Can someone hold a legal claim over a piece of land that he never set foot on? If yes, then how much land can be claimed in this manner? It would be possible, for example, for persons to claim ownership over entire planets.
Further Information
Get more info on 'Homestead Principle'.
|
External Link Exchanges
Do you know how hard it is to get a link from a large encyclopaedia? Well we're different and will prove it. To get a link from us just add the following HTML to your site on a relevant page:
<a href="http://homestead_principle.totallyexplained.com">Homestead principle Totally Explained</a>
Then simply click through this link from your web page. Our crawlers will verify your link, extract the title of your web page and instantly add a link back to it. If you like you can remove the words Totally Explained and embed the link in article text.
As long as your link remains in place, we'll keep our link to you right here. Please play fair - our crawlers are watching. Your site must be closely related to this one's topic. Any kind of spamming, dubious practises or removing the link will result in your link from us being dropped and, potentially, your whole site being banned. |
