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48-415: In Scotland a crofting township is a group of agricultural smallholdings (each with its own few hectares of pasture and arable land (in-bye land)) holding in common a substantial tract of unimproved upland grazing. Each township comprises a formal legal unit. Like older Scottish land measurements, such as the davoch , quarterland and oxgang , the extent of a township often varies according to

96-400: A communist nation, the means of production of goods would be owned communally by all people of that nation; the original thinkers did not specify rules and regulations. Personal property is a type of property . In the common law systems personal property may also be called chattels . It is distinguished from real property , or real estate . In the civil law systems personal property

144-496: A cooperative (also co-operative or co-op, in German Wohnungsgenossenschaft – apartment co-operative, also " Wohnbaugenossenschaft " or simply " Baugenossenschaft ") which relies heavily on internal rules of operation instead of the legal framework governing condominium associations. These "co-ops", owning the building for the mutual benefit of its members, can ultimately perform most of the functions of

192-614: A tenant farmer , especially in rural areas. (In Northern England, Crofter was a term connected with the textiles industry; someone who bleached cloth prior to dyeing, laying it out in fields or 'crofts' ) The word croft is West Germanic in etymology, derived from the Dutch term kroft or krocht and the Old English croft , meaning an enclosed field. Today, the term is used most frequently in Scotland , most crofts being in

240-401: A cushion against losses or as a means to finance growth activities. Examples of this are not-for-profit entities: they are allowed to make profits, but are not permitted to give any of it back to members except by way of discounts in the future on new transactions. Depending on the charter at the foundation of the entity, and depending on the legal framework under which the entity was created,

288-441: A legally constituted condominium, i.e. restricting use appropriately and containing financial liabilities to within tolerable levels. To change their structure now that they are up and operating would require significant effort to achieve acceptance among members and various levels of government. The owning entity makes rules governing use of property; each property may comprise areas that are made available to any and every member of

336-708: A major area of business . An individual or group of individuals can own shares in corporations and other legal entities , but do not necessarily own the entities themselves. A legal entity is a legal construct through which the law allows a group of natural persons to act as if it were an individual for certain purposes. Some duly incorporated entities may not be owned by individuals nor by other entities; they exist without being owned once they are created. Not being owned, they cannot be bought and sold. Mutual life insurance companies, credit unions , foundations and cooperatives , not for profit organizations, and public corporations are examples of this. No person can purchase

384-564: A number of ways. To acquire property one can purchase it with money , trade it for other property, win it in a bet, receive it as a gift , inherit it, find it, receive it as damages , earn it by doing work or performing services, make it, or homestead it. One can transfer or lose ownership of property by selling it for money , exchanging it for other property, giving it as a gift, misplacing it, or having it stripped from one's ownership through legal means such as eviction , foreclosure , seizure , or taking . Ownership implies that

432-462: A particular subset of intellectual property known as industrial property . Like other forms of property, intellectual property (or rather the exclusive rights which subsist in the IP) can be transferred ( with or without consideration) or licensed to third parties. In some jurisdictions it is possible to use intellectual property as collateral for a loan . The basic public policy rationale for

480-451: A partner or owner in a group may give little advantage in terms of share ownership while producing a lot of risk to the partner, owner or participant. At the end of each fiscal year , accounting rules determine a surplus or profit, which may be retained inside the entity or distributed among owners according to the initial setup intent when the entity was created. For public corporations, common shareholders have no right to receive any of

528-411: A problem occurs which leads to a massive liability, the individual is protected from losing more than the value of that one property. Many other properties are protected, when owned by other distinct entities. In the loosest sense of group ownership, a lack of legal framework, rules and regulations may mean that group ownership of property places each member in a position of responsibility (liability) for

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576-476: A response to the complaints and demands of tenant families who were victims of the Highland Clearances . The modern crofters or tenants appear very little in evidence before the beginning of the 18th century. They were tenants at will underneath the tacksman and wadsetters , but practically their tenure was secure enough. The first evidence that can be found of small tenants holding directly of

624-399: A responsibility to others for actions regarding the property. A "legal shield" is said to exist if the entity's legal liabilities do not get redistributed among the entity's owners or members. An application of this, to limit ownership risks, is to form a new entity (such as a shell company ) to purchase, own and operate each property. Since the entity is separate and distinct from others, if

672-581: A variety of ways, such as goods , money , negotiable instruments , securities , and intangible assets including choses in action . Real estate or immovable property is a legal term (in some jurisdictions) that encompasses land along with anything permanently affixed to the land, such as buildings . Real estate (immovable property) is often considered synonymous with real property , in contrast from personal property (also sometimes called chattel or personalty ). However, for technical purposes, some people prefer to distinguish real estate, referring to

720-413: Is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . This agriculture article is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . Croft (land) A croft is a traditional Scottish term for a fenced or enclosed area of land, usually small and arable , and usually, but not always, with a crofter's dwelling thereon. A crofter is one who has tenure and use of the land, typically as

768-711: Is a key factor in determining their type. Each type has advantages and disadvantages derived from their means of recognizing or disregarding (rewarding or not) contributions of financial capital or personal effort. Cooperatives , corporations , trusts , partnerships , and condominium associations are only some of the many varied types of structured ownership; each type has many subtypes. Legal advantages or restrictions on various types of structured ownership have existed in many societies past and present. To govern how assets are to be used, shared, or treated, rules and regulations may be legally imposed or internally adopted or decreed. Ownership by definition does not necessarily imply

816-425: Is often called movable property or movables – any property that can be moved from one location or another. This term is used to distinguish property that different from immovable property or immovables, such as land and buildings. This also means the direct owner of the item(s) is in full control of them/it until either stolen, confiscated by law enforcement , or destroyed. Personal property may be classified in

864-624: Is often called a toun (the Lowland Scots word for a township ), although before the Anglic language Scots became widespread in Scotland the word baile was more commonly used. Traditional townships were largely wiped out during the Highland Clearances . Auchindrain in Argyll , once occupied by up to seven tenant families who farmed the land cooperatively, was the last to survive. This

912-495: Is ongoing debate as to whether IP laws truly operate to confer the stated public benefits, and whether the protection they are said to provide is appropriate in the context of innovation derived from such things as traditional knowledge and folklore, and patents for software and business methods . Manifestations of this controversy can be seen in the way different jurisdictions decide whether to grant intellectual property protection in relation to subject matter of this kind, and

960-463: Is the key building block in the development of the capitalist socio-economic system. Adam Smith stated that one of the sacred laws of justice was to guard a person's property and possessions. Individuals may own property directly. In some societies only adult men may own property; in other societies (such as the Haudenosaunee ), property is matrilinear and passed on from mother to

1008-558: The American Civil War . Chattel slavery is currently (2020) illegal in every country in the world. However, until the 19th century slavery in one form or another existed in most societies and was thought of as the normal state of things; slaves of whatever ethnicity were considered racially inferior. Notwithstanding the illegality of enslavement, virtual slavery still exists in various forms today, although called by other names. The question of ownership reaches back to

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1056-530: The Highlands and Islands area. Elsewhere the expression is generally archaic . In Scottish Gaelic , it is rendered croit ( pronounced [kʰɾɔʰtʲ] , plural croitean [ˈkʰɾɔʰtʲən] ). The Scottish croft is a small agricultural landholding of a type that has been subject to special legislation applying to the Scottish Highlands since 1886. The legislation was largely

1104-523: The Tragedy of the Commons , occurs where unlimited unrestricted and unregulated access to a resource (e.g. pasture land) destroys the resource because of over-exploitation . The benefits of exploitation accrue to individuals immediately, while the costs of policing or enforcing appropriate use, and the losses dues to over exploitation, are distributed among many, and are only visible to these gradually. In

1152-515: The ancient philosophers , Plato and Aristotle , who held different opinions on the subject. Plato (428/427 BC – 348/347 BC) thought private property created divisive inequalities, while Aristotle (384 BC – 322 BC) thought private property enabled people to receive the full benefit of their labor . Private property can circumvent what is now referred to as the " tragedy of the commons " problem, where people tend to degrade common property more than they do private property. While Aristotle justified

1200-532: The proprietor is in a rental of the estates of Sir D. MacDonald in Skye and North Uist in 1715. The first planned crofting townships in the Outer Hebrides were Barragloum and Kirkibost (Great Bernera) which were laid out into 32 large "lots" of between 14 and 30 acres in the uniform rectangular pattern that would become very familiar in later decades. This work was carried out in 1805 by James Chapman for

1248-712: The 1886 legislation (the Crofters' Holdings (Scotland) Act ) protected crofters are members of a crofters' township , consisting of tenants of neighbouring crofts with a shared right to use common pasture . Since 1976 it has been legally possible for a crofter to acquire title to his croft, thus becoming an owner-occupier . The Land Reform (Scotland) Act 2003 gives crofters the right to buy their land. This article incorporates text from Dwelly's [Scottish] Gaelic Dictionary (1911) . (Croitear) Proprietor The process and mechanics of ownership are fairly complex: one can gain, transfer, and lose ownership of property in

1296-687: The Bernera Riot four years earlier using exactly the same division boundaries set out in 1805. The Parliament of the United Kingdom created the Crofters' Act 1886 , after the Highland Land League had gained seats in that parliament. The government was then Liberal , with William Ewart Gladstone as Prime minister. Another Crofters' Act was created in 1993 (the Crofters' (Scotland) Act 1993). The earlier Act established

1344-521: The Earl of Seaforth. The first edition of the Ordnance Survey in 1850 clearly highlights the division of this land and the turf and stone boundaries built by the first tenants in 1805 are still in use today as croft boundaries. Kirkibost was 'cleared' of its tenants in 1823 and the 1850 mapping clearly shows roofless ruins on each parcel of land. The township was however re-settled in 1878 following

1392-466: The IP. The term intellectual property reflects the idea that this subject matter is the product of the mind or the intellect, and that IP rights may be protected at law in the same way as any other form of property . Intellectual property laws confer a bundle of exclusive rights in relation to the particular form or manner in which ideas or information are expressed or manifested, and not in relation to

1440-411: The actions of every other member. A structured group duly constituted as an entity under law may still not protect members from being personally liable for each other's actions. Court decisions against the entity itself may give rise to unlimited personal liability for each and every member. An example of this situation is a professional partnership (e.g. law practice ) in some jurisdictions . Thus, being

1488-402: The company, as their ownership is not legally available for sale, neither as shares nor as a single whole. Intellectual property (IP) refers to a legal entitlement which sometimes attaches to the expressed form of an idea , or to some other intangible subject matter. This legal entitlement generally enables its holder to exercise exclusive rights of use in relation to the subject matter of

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1536-511: The entity. Depending on internal rules and regulations, certain classes of shares have the right to receive increases in financial "dividends" while other classes do not. After many years the increase over time is substantial if the business is profitable. Examples of this are common shares and preferred shares in private or publicly listed share capital corporations. Entities with a focus on providing service in perpetuam do not distribute financial surplus; they must retain it. It will then serve as

1584-465: The existence of private ownership, he left two open questions In modern western politics , some people believe that exclusive ownership of property underlies much social injustice, and facilitates tyranny and oppression on an individual and societal scale. Others consider the striving to achieve greater ownership of wealth as the driving factor behind human innovation and technological advancement and increasing standards of living . Some support

1632-470: The first Crofting Commission , but its responsibilities were quite different from those of the newer Crofters Commission created in 1955. The Commission is based in Inverness . Crofts held subject to the provisions of the Crofters' Acts are in the administrative counties of Shetland , Orkney, Caithness , Sutherland, Ross-shire , Inverness-shire and Argyll , in the north and west of Scotland. Under

1680-431: The form of ownership is determined once and for all time. To change it requires significant work in terms of communicating with stakeholders (member-owners, governments, etc.) and acquiring their approval. Whatever structural constraints or disadvantages exist at the creation thus remain an integral part of the entity. Common in, for instance, New York City , Hamburg , and Berlin is a form of real estate ownership known as

1728-420: The group to use. When the group is the entire nation, the same principle is in effect whether the property is small (e.g. picnic rest stops along highways ) or large (such as national parks , highways, ports, and publicly owned buildings). Smaller examples of shared use include common areas such as lobbies, entrance hallways and passages to adjacent buildings. One disadvantage of communal ownership, known as

1776-434: The ideas or concepts themselves (see idea-expression divide ). The term "intellectual property" denotes the specific legal rights which authors, inventors and other IP holders may hold and exercise, and not the intellectual work itself. Intellectual property laws are designed to protect different forms of intangible subject matter, although in some cases there is a degree of overlap. Patents, trademarks and designs fall into

1824-412: The land and fixtures themselves, from real property, referring to ownership rights over real estate. The terms real estate and real property are used primarily in common law , while civil law jurisdictions refer instead to immovable property . In law, the word real means relating to a thing (from Latin reālis, ultimately from rēs , 'matter' or 'thing'), as distinguished from a person. Thus

1872-416: The latter view, believing that ownership is necessary for liberty itself. Ownership society was a political slogan used by United States President George W. Bush to promote a series of policies aimed to increase the control of individual citizens over health care and social security payments and policies. Critics have claimed that slogan hid an agenda that sought to implement tax cuts and curtail

1920-408: The law broadly distinguishes between real property (land and anything affixed to it) and personal property (everything else, e.g., clothing, furniture, money). The conceptual difference is between immovable property, which would transfer title along with the land, and movable property, which a person would retain title to. With the development of private property ownership, real estate has become

1968-575: The offspring. In most societies both men and women can own property with no restrictions and limitations at all. Throughout history, nations (or governments ) and religious organizations have owned property. These entities exist primarily for purposes other than to own or operate property; hence, they may have no clear rules regarding the disposition of their property. To own and operate property, structures (often known today as legal entities ) have been created in many societies throughout history. The differences in how they deal with members' rights

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2016-468: The owner of a property also owns any economic benefits or deficits associated with the property. Over the millennia and across cultures, notions regarding what constitutes "property" and how it is treated culturally have varied widely. Ownership is the basis for many other concepts that form the foundations of ancient and modern societies such as money , trade , debt , bankruptcy , the criminality of theft , and private vs. public property. Ownership

2064-508: The profit. Entities with a member focus will give financial surplus back to members according to the volume of financial activity that the participating member generated for the entity. Examples of this are producer cooperatives, buyer cooperatives and participating whole life policyholders in both mutual and share-capital insurance companies . Entities with shared voting rights that depend on financial capital distribute surplus among shareholders without regard to any other contribution to

2112-432: The protection of intellectual property is that IP laws facilitate and encourage disclosure of innovation into the public domain for the common good , by granting authors and inventors exclusive rights to exploit their works and invention for a limited period. However, various schools of thought are critical of the very concept of intellectual property, and some characterise IP as intellectual protectionism . There

2160-401: The quality of the land it is on, and this can range from a hundred to a few thousand hectares. There is often a substantial tract of unimproved upland common grazing - known as a " shieling " or " àirigh " which is held in common. This tends to be used in the summer, but with the advent of fertilisers it is often used in colder times as well. In reference to the history of Scotland, a township

2208-408: The stark divide on issues of the role and scope of intellectual property laws. The term "Slavery" is commonly understood to refer to chattel slavery. The living human body is, in modern societies, considered something which cannot be the property of anyone but the person whose body it is. Its opposite, in which the person in the body does not own their body, is chattel slavery . Chattel slavery

2256-521: Was defined as the absolute legal ownership of a person, including the legal right to buy and sell them. Persons who were so enslaved did not have the freedom to direct their own actions, and their legal rights were either severely limited or nonexistent. The Antebellum period in the United States is considered both the worst for the exploitation of chattel slaves, and also where the practice aroused such fierce opposition and support that it led to

2304-405: Was down to the 19th century landowner, the 8th Duke of Argyll , who decided that splitting the township into individual crofts would not be financially viable and encouraged his tenants to modernise their methods. The final tenant departed Auchindrain in 1963. The traditional houses and other buildings still stand, and have been turned into an open-air museum. This Scotland -related article

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