Lost and returned

[discmonkey]

Just ran across this article on Comcast.  It's why I don't understand the debate of do you return lost discs you find or not.  It's black and white.

http://www6.comcast.net/news/articles/odd/2007/11/27/ODD.Finders.Keepers/?cvqh=ht_finders

[Jon Brakel]

Yes, as Bruce has pointed out several times, you don't relinquish your right to ownership of an item just because you lost it.

[skipache]

i agree with the above post except the "water-hazard clause"
i believe that a disc if you cannot recover it from a body of water or swamp that you relinquish ownership, however if there is a number or i know who you are i usually return them to the best of my ability

if i lose a disc in the pond in lockport and some local retrieves it then its his, unless he wants to A. return it, B. trade it, C. Make me buy it back if i want

we all wish A. to happen when we lose discs but if i leave it in the hazard, then whoever is brave enough to retrieve it deserves it

[Jon Brakel]

i agree with the above post except the "water-hazard clause"
i believe that a disc if you cannot recover it from a body of water or swamp that you relinquish ownership, however if there is a number or i know who you are i usually return them to the best of my ability

if i lose a disc in the pond in lockport and some local retrieves it then its his, unless he wants to A. return it, B. trade it, C. Make me buy it back if i want

we all wish A. to happen when we lose discs but if i leave it in the hazard, then whoever is brave enough to retrieve it deserves it

A disc in the water is not lost. You have chosen to abandon your property. I believe you lose your right to ownership of a common item like a disc if you abandon it.

[Bruce Brakel]

I think a disc in the water might be lost or abandonned.  I could write the brief for either side of that argument and not feel the least bit slimy.  It would depend upon the facts. 

Over the Thanksgiving weekend, on Friday actually, I read a collection of A.A.Milne's short stories written for adults.  There was an amusing one about a man who finds a silver cigar case monogrammed "RML" who keeps neglecting to return it to Scotland Yard. 

Most states have a lost property law.  Usually you are obligated to return lost property to the police.  Usually you can make a claim for the property as the finder, and when the statutory period of time has passed, you get custody of the property.