Book III: Different ways of acquiring property

Ownership of property is acquired and transmitted by succession, by gift inter vivos or testamentary, and by the effect of obligations.

Ownership is also acquired by accession or incorporation, and by prescription.

There are things which belong to no one and whose use is common to all. Police laws regulate the manner of their enjoyment.

The ability to hunt or fish is also regulated by specific laws.

The ownership of a treasure belongs to the person who finds it in his own land; if the treasure is found in the land of another, it belongs half to the person who discovered it, and half to the owner of the land. Treasure is any hidden or buried thing over which no one can justify his ownership, and which is discovered by the pure effect of chance.

The rights over effects thrown into the sea, over objects which the sea rejects, of whatever nature they may be, over plants and grasses which grow on the shores of the sea, are also regulated by particular laws. The same applies to lost things whose master does not represent himself.