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47-485: TFN first began when its founder, Deron Beal, collaborated with RISE, a small nonprofit corporation that offers recycling services in the downtown area of Tucson, Arizona , US. The team worked together to find local nonprofits that could potentially use their products, but it was not too successful. Hence, Beal created the first Freecycle email that enabled online users to interact with recycling. In February 2005, TFN accepted $ 130,000 from Waste Management to help build out

94-407: A charitable organization . A mutual-benefit corporation can be non-profit or not-for-profit, but it still must pay regular corporate tax rates. A mutual benefit corporation will pay the same taxes as a regular for-profit corporation, with C corporation tax rates. Mutual benefit corporations must still file tax returns and pay income tax because they are not formed for a purpose from which anyone in

141-560: A physical person ), and a non-human person is called a juridical person (sometimes also a juridic , juristic , artificial , legal , or fictitious person , Latin : persona ficta ). Juridical persons are entities such as corporations, firms (in some jurisdictions ), and many government agencies . They are treated in law as if they were persons. While natural persons acquire legal personality "naturally", simply by being born, juridical persons must have legal personality conferred on them by some "unnatural", legal process, and it

188-433: A company limited by shares, its shareholders ). They may sue and be sued , enter into contracts, incur debt , and own property . Entities with legal personality may also be subjected to certain legal obligations, such as the payment of taxes. An entity with legal personality may shield its members from personal liability . In some common law jurisdictions a distinction is drawn between corporation aggregate (such as

235-550: A company, which is composed of a number of members) and a corporation sole , which is a public office of legal personality separated from the individual holding the office (these entities have separate legal personality). Historically most corporations sole were ecclesiastical in nature (for example, the office of the Archbishop of Canterbury is a corporation sole), but a number of other public offices are now formed as corporations sole. The concept of juridical personality

282-479: A law restricting the free speech of a corporation or a political action group or dictating the coverage of a local newspaper, and because of the Due Process Clause , a state government may not take the property of a corporation without using due process of law and providing just compensation. These protections apply to all legal entities, not just corporations. A prominent component of relevant case law

329-471: A new independent association, Freegle . TFN continued in the UK, with both groups present in many areas. In February 2015, TFN UK claimed to have 592 groups with 4,345,095 members. The Freecycle founder now receives an annual payment of over £120,000 per year while the other listed officers are not compensated. This is over 1/3 of the total Freecycle.org revenue. Freecycle.org has not listed any recent Form 990 with

376-550: A second amicus brief in support of Oey. In 2007, the US 9th Circuit Court affirmed that freecycle may be used as a word. On November 24, 2010, TFN lost its trademark claim to "Freecycle" and its logo in the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals. Justice Consuelo María Callahan wrote in her opinion, "Beal did not coin the word 'freecycle' and TFN is not the first organization to promote freecycling ... even ... viewing

423-445: Is a type of nonprofit corporation chartered by a state government , and organized primarily or exclusively for social , educational , recreational or charitable purposes by like-minded citizens. Public-benefit nonprofit corporations are distinct in the law from mutual-benefit nonprofit corporations in that they are organized for the general public benefit , rather than for the interest of its members. They are also distinct in

470-460: Is also found in virtually every other legal system. Some examples of juridical persons include: Not all organizations have legal personality. For example, the board of directors of a corporation, legislature, or governmental agency typically are not legal persons in that they have no ability to exercise legal rights independent of the corporation or political body which they are a part of. The concept of legal personhood for organizations of people

517-459: Is at least as old as Ancient Rome : a variety of collegial institutions enjoyed the benefit under Roman law . The doctrine has been attributed to Pope Innocent IV , who seems at least to have helped spread the idea of persona ficta as it is called in Latin . In canon law , the doctrine of persona ficta allowed monasteries to have a legal existence that was apart from the monks, simplifying

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564-506: Is completely free to all members, and everything posted on the website must be completely free, legal, and appropriate for everyone regardless of their age. Today, TFN is a global organization with over 4,000 local chapters. They passed two-million-member in February 2006. By February 2014, TFN had 6,880,991 members across 5,120 groups worldwide. In December 2023, TFN had 11,022,137 members across 5,355 groups worldwide. A notice of opposition

611-553: Is for this reason that they are sometimes called "artificial" persons. In the most common case ( incorporating a business), legal personality is usually acquired by registration with a government agency set up for the purpose. In other cases it may be by primary legislation: an example is the Charity Commission in the UK. The United Nations Sustainable Development Goal 16 advocates for the provision of legal identity for all, including birth registration by 2030 as part of

658-484: Is not absolute. " Piercing the corporate veil " refers to looking at the individual natural persons acting as agents involved in a company action or decision; this may result in a legal decision in which the rights or duties of a corporation or public limited company are treated as the rights or liabilities of that corporation's members or directors . The concept of a juridical person is now central to Western law in both common-law and civil-law countries, but it

705-412: Is pertinent to the philosophy of law , as it is essential to laws affecting a corporation ( corporations law ). Juridical personhood allows one or more natural persons ( universitas personarum ) to act as a single entity ( body corporate ) for legal purposes. In many jurisdictions , artificial personality allows that entity to be considered under law separately from its individual members (for example in

752-654: Is the Supreme Court decision Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission , which ruled unconstitutional certain restrictions on corporate campaign spending during elections. Other United States points of law include: In Act II, Scene 1 of Gilbert and Sullivan 's 1889 opera, The Gondoliers , Giuseppe Palmieri (who serves, jointly with his brother Marco, as King of Barataria) requests that he and his brother be also recognized individually so that they might each receive individual portions of food as they have "two independent appetites". He is, however, turned down by

799-415: Is the characteristic of a non-living entity regarded by law as having the status of personhood . A juridical or artificial person ( Latin : persona ficta ; also juristic person ) has a legal name and has certain rights, protections, privileges, responsibilities, and liabilities in law, similar to those of a natural person . The concept of a juridical person is a fundamental legal fiction . It

846-524: Is the property owned by the deity or idol as a "legal person". Humans appointed to act on behalf of deity are called the "shebait" . A shebait acts as the guardian or custodian of deity to protect the right of deity and fulfill the legal duties of the deity. Shebait is similar to a trustee in case the deity or temple does have a legally registered trust or entity. Under the Hindu Law property gifted or offered as rituals or donations, etc absolutely belongs to

893-547: The " Animal Welfare Board of India vs Nagaraja" case in 2014 mandated that animals are also entitled to the fundamental right to freedom enshrined in the Article 21 of Constitution of India i.e. right to life, personal liberty and the right to die with dignity ( passive euthanasia ). In another case, a court in Uttarakhand state mandated that animals have the same rights as humans. In another case of cow-smuggling ,

940-592: The 2030 Agenda . As legal personality is a prerequisite to legal capacity (the ability of any legal person to amend – i.e. enter into, transfer, etc. – rights and obligations ), it is a prerequisite for an international organization to be able to sign international treaties in its own name . The term "legal person" can be ambiguous because it is often used as a synonym of terms that refer only to non-human legal entities, specifically in contradistinction to "natural person". Artificial personality , juridical personality , or juristic personality

987-466: The New Zealand Bill of Rights Act 1990 provides: "... the provisions of this Bill of Rights apply, so far as practicable, for the benefit of all legal persons as well as for the benefit of all natural persons." In part based on the principle that legal persons are simply natural persons and their organizations, and in part based on the history of statutory interpretation of the word "person",

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1034-507: The Punjab and Haryana High Court mandated that "entire animal kingdom including avian and aquatic" species has a "distinct legal persona with corresponding rights, duties, and liabilities of a living person" and humans are "loco parentis" while laying out the norms for animal welfare, veterinary treatment, fodder and shelter, e.g. animal drawn carriages must not have more than four humans, and load carrying animals must not be loaded beyond

1081-603: The Uttarakhand High Court , mandated that the river Ganges and Yamuna as well as all water bodies are "living entities" i.e. "legal person" and appointed three humans as trustees to protect the rights of rivers against the pollution caused by the humans, e.g. "pilgrims's bathing rituals" . The Supreme Court of India overturned the decision of the High Court of Uttarakhand in July 2017. Section 28 of

1128-730: The "legal person" status by the law "have rights and co-relative duties; they can sue and be sued, can possess and transfer property" . Since these non-human entities are "voiceless" they are legally represented "through guardians and representatives" to claim their legal rights and to fulfill their legal duties and responsibilities. Specific non-human entities given the status of "legal person" include " corporate personality , body politic , charitable unions etc," as well as trust estates , deities , temples, churches, mosques, hospitals, universities, colleges, banks, railways, municipalities, and gram panchayats (village councils), rivers, all animals and birds. In court cases regarding corporates,

1175-628: The European Union, New Zealand, Australia and Canada. During 2009, there were conflicts between the UK's independent association of TFN moderators and the organization's founders over the UK-based TFN groups' lack of freedom to develop local initiatives and features and their treatment of volunteer group owners and moderators. This resulted in the dismissal of at least 20 local group owners and moderators, who were replaced with new local TFN volunteers. Many owners of UK-based TFN groups formed

1222-471: The U.S. Supreme Court held that for the purposes of the case at hand, a corporation is "capable of being treated as a citizen of [the State which created it], as much as a natural person." Ten years later, they reaffirmed the result of Letson, though on the somewhat different theory that "those who use the corporate name, and exercise the faculties conferred by it," should be presumed conclusively to be citizens of

1269-565: The US Supreme Court has repeatedly held that certain constitutional rights protect legal persons ( such as corporations and other organizations). Santa Clara County v. Southern Pacific Railroad is sometimes cited for this finding because the court reporter's comments included a statement the Chief Justice made before oral arguments began, telling the attorneys during pre-trial that "the court does not wish to hear argument on

1316-456: The corporation's State of incorporation. Marshall v. Baltimore & Ohio R. Co., 16 How. 314, 329, 14 L.Ed. 953 (1854). These concepts have been codified by statute, as U.S. jurisdictional statutes specifically address the domicile of corporations. Indian law defines two types of "legal person", the human beings as well as certain non-human entities which are given the same legal judicial personality as human beings. The non-human entities given

1363-459: The deity Rama in the specific temple was a "legal entity" entitled to be represented by their own lawyer appointed by the trustees acting on behalf of the deity. Similarly, in 2018 SC decided that the deity Ayyappan is a "legal person" with " the right to privacy " in the court case regarding the entry of women to Sabarimala shrine of Lord Ayyapan. Under the Indian law, the "shebaitship"

1410-435: The deity and not to the shebait. Case example are "Profulla Chrone Requitte vs Satya Chorone Requitte, AIR 1979 SC 1682 (1686): (1979) 3 SCC 409: (1979) 3 SCR 431. (ii)" and "Shambhu Charan Shukla vs Thakur Ladli Radha Chandra Madan Gopalji Maharaj, AIR 1985 SC 905 (909): (1985) 2 SCC 524: (1985) 3 SCR 372" . India and New Zealand both recognised the legal rights of rivers in 2017. In court cases regarding natural entities,

1457-416: The difficulty in balancing the need for such groups to have infrastructure though the monks took vows of personal poverty. Another effect of this was that, as a fictional person, a monastery could not be held guilty of delict due to not having a soul, helping to protect the organization from non- contractual obligations to surrounding communities. This effectively moved such liability to persons acting within

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1504-607: The evidence in the light most favorable to TFN ... [they] engaged in naked licensing and consequently abandoned the trademarks." On September 25, 2012, TFN gained a registered trademark in the United States for Freecycle.org (registration number 4215094) from the United States Patent and Trademark Office . TFN also received a registered-collective-membership trademark on that date (registration number 4215095). TFN maintains additional registered trademarks in

1551-577: The inspections or regulations governing non-religious groups performing the same services. Religious corporations are permitted to designate a person to act in the capacity of corporation sole . A mutual-benefit nonprofit corporation or membership corporation, in the United States, is a type of nonprofit corporation chartered by a state government that exists to serve its members in ways other than obtaining and distributing profits to them. Therefore, it cannot obtain IRS 501(c)(3) non-profit status as

1598-487: The latest from 2016 Nonprofit corporation A nonprofit corporation is any legal entity which has been incorporated under the law of its jurisdiction for purposes other than making profits for its owners or shareholders. Depending on the laws of the jurisdiction, a nonprofit corporation may seek official recognition as such, and may be taxed differently from for-profit corporations , and treated differently in other ways. A public-benefit nonprofit corporation

1645-541: The law from religious corporations. A religious corporation is a nonprofit corporation organized to promote religious purposes. Often these types of corporations are recognized under the law on a subnational level, for instance by a state or province government. The government agency responsible for regulating such corporations is usually the official holder of records, for instance a state Secretary of State . Religious corporations are formed like all other nonprofit corporations by filing articles of incorporation with

1692-405: The organization while protecting the structure itself, since persons were considered to have a soul and therefore capable of negligence and able to be excommunicated . In the common law tradition, only a person could possess legal rights. To allow them to function, the legal personality of a corporation was established to include five legal rights—the right to a common treasury or chest (including

1739-612: The question whether the provision in the Fourteenth Amendment to the Constitution , which forbids a State to deny any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws, applies to these corporations. We are all of the opinion that it does." Later opinions interpreted these pre-argument comments as part of the legal decision. As a result, because of the First Amendment , Congress may not make

1786-506: The right to own property), the right to a corporate seal (i.e., the right to make and sign contracts), the right to sue and be sued (to enforce contracts), the right to hire agents (employees) and the right to make by-laws (self-governance). Since the 19th century, legal personhood has been further construed to make it a citizen, resident, or domiciliary of a state (usually for purposes of personal jurisdiction ). In Louisville, C. & C.R. Co. v. Letson , 2 How. 497, 558, 11 L.Ed. 353 (1844),

1833-419: The shareholders are not responsible for the company's debts but the company itself being a "legal person" is liable to repay those debts or be sued for the non-repayment of debts. In court cases regarding animals, the animals have the status of "legal person" and humans have the legal duty to act as " loco parentis " towards animals welfare like a parent has towards the minor children. A court while deciding

1880-460: The specified limits and those limits must be halved when animals have to carry the load up a slope. In court cases regarding religious entities, the deity (deity or god is a supernatural being considered divine or sacred) is also a "legal person" who can engage in legal cases through " trustees " or " managing board in charge of the temple" . Supreme Court of India (SC), while deciding Ayodhya case of Ram Janmabhoomi , decided in 2010 that

1927-483: The state. Religious corporation articles need to have the standard tax exempt language the IRS requires. Religious corporations are subject to less rigorous state and federal filing and reporting requirements than many other tax-exempt organizations, such as mutual benefit nonprofit corporations , or public benefit nonprofit corporations . Depending on the state in which they are located, they may also be exempt from some of

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1974-430: The term " legal person" is that some legal persons are not people: companies and corporations (i.e., business entities ) are persons legally speaking (they can legally do most of the things an ordinary person can do), but they are not people in a literal sense ( human beings ). There are therefore two kinds of legal entities: human and non-human. In law, a human person is called a natural person (sometimes also

2021-471: The website and the network. Over time, the concept has spread to over 110 countries, with thousands of local groups and millions of members. The organization began as a collection of Yahoo! Groups linked from freecycle.org. It has become a web-community platform on freecycle.org for all groups, which are run by local volunteers. TFN encourages the formation of new groups, subject to approval by regional new-group approvers. Groups approved by TFN are listed on

2068-466: The website, can use the TFN name and logo, and are subject to rules which are enforced by a network of global and regional group outreach assistance. As of March 2009, all new groups had to join freecycle.org's new-group system, which provides Freecycle-specific tools for local volunteer moderators and gives TFN oversight of individual groups. As of 2015, all local groups are listed on freecycle.org. Membership

2115-531: The word "freecycle" or allegedly had "confusingly similar derivations thereof". Free-speech advocates, including the Electronic Frontier Foundation and 38 law professors, filed an amicus brief opposing a trademark-infringement lawsuit filed by TFN against Tim Oey. The opposition was based on the position that the lawsuit violated Oey's First Amendment rights. Other law professors, including Lawrence Lessig , and Jimmy Wales filed

2162-486: The world could benefit. Mutual benefit corporations are formed for nonprofit purposes like managing a condo association, a downtown business district, or a homeowners' association. A utility cooperative is an example of an MBNC. Legal person In law , a legal person is any person or legal entity that can do the things a human person is usually able to do in law – such as enter into contracts , sue and be sued, own property , and so on. The reason for

2209-774: Was filed in federal court by FreecycleSunnyvale against the Freecycle Network in January 2006. An injunction was granted against Tim Oey in May 2006 for allegedly disparaging the TFN trademark. The injunction was stayed in July 2006 and dissolved by the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit in September 2007. To defend its trademark in 2006, TFN pursued other free recycling groups who used

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