[tylersmith]

If you leave your keys in your car for 3 years it's still illegal for me to take a joy ride in it. I don't personally believe in/support the concept of IP but in a world that does (like the US) it doesn't make sense to me that people being able to see your property for 3 years gives them the right to use it.

[benj111]

If you leave you car keys at my house for 3 years does the change the answer? With the car parked on my drive?

I'm not sure a car is the best comparison though.

How about a restaurant putting mint imperials by the cash register. Is it legal for patrons to take one?

[arkades]

Property rights don’t go away because someone made it easy for you to violate them.

Mints are put out explicitly for you to take. Property right intentionally transferred.

[thinkharder]

Actually, in the US "Abandoned Vehicle" is a legal thing and depending on local laws you might very well be able to claim, and get title to a vehicle that has been abandoned on your property. And the abandonment period can be really short, 48 hrs in some states. It depends on your state's definition of "abandoned vehicle", and local laws, and it will probably require a few trips to the DMV and might require filing in small claims court, but there is a legal process for gaining ownership of a vehicle that has been left on your property.

Same for any lost property, if you find something valuable (wallet full of cash), you generally have to turn it in to the police, and there is a notification process to try to find the owner, and after a period of time (generally 3 months), if no one has claimed it, it's yours. Again, local laws are going to differ, but the general legal concept, that "A finder of property acquires no rights in mislaid property, is entitled to possession of lost property against everyone except the true owner, and is entitled to keep abandoned property."[1] is common.

There's some old saying about possession being 9/10ths of the law....

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lost,_mislaid,_and_abandoned_p...

[oblio]

It's older than that, it's a Roman legal principle, usucapio: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Usucapio

[gowld]

Your missing the point. How is the transfer communicated? Common law traditions and statutes.

[benj111]

I have never ever seen a sign next to the mints saying they a free for patrons. I just assume because that's the done thing, I would make the same presumption about the software package.

Of someone leaves a car on my drive I can do something about it, you may not be able to do in your territory. I'm surprised there isn't the a legal concept of abandonment though, what do you do if someone drops an empty can on your land?