Production and Specification

When one thing is added to another, the general rule is that what is accessory becomes the property of the owner of what is principal. And so the owner of land has the property in gradual increments made to it by alluvion; an island formed in a river belongs to the owner of the bed. If a river suddenly changes its course, or the sea suddenly retires, the rule does not hold; the ownership remaining as before. If wood belonging to another has been used in a building, the property is transferred to the owner of the building, with the obligation of making compensation for the wood. Similarly a painting on another’s canvas belongs to the painter, but he must pay for the canvas. When a new form has been introduced into the material, as by baking bread, making wine or oil, the product belongs to the workman, but compensation must be made for the material. The ownership is then said to be acquired by specification, When liquids or solids belonging to different owners have been mixed, they should be separated if possible, and each owner will retain his separate property. If this is impossible, the former owners still retain their right to a proportionate part of the whole or to its value.

I. Notion of production. Production is the production of fruits, and concerns both fruits of ingenuity and other fruits which some thing produces either by its own nature, or by man's labor and industry. Production, insofar as it includes fruits of ingenuity, was discussed in n. 766. It remains that we speak of it insofar as it concerns other fruits of things.

II. Distinction of fruits. Fruits are distinguished:

1. By theologians into: 1° natural fruits, which proceed from the thing itself without notable human labor, such as the offspring of animals and the fruits of trees; 2° industrial fruits, which are properly produced by the labor of man, although using the thing as a means, such as works of art, profit from commerce and trade; 3° mixed fruits, which proceed from the thing itself through notable human labor as a means, such as crops, wine, cheese; 4° civil fruits, which come to someone on the occasion of a thing through a contract, such as rental payments, rents, and the increase of money given as a loan.

2. By jurists, fruits are distinguished conformably to the respective civil Code; consult it.

III. To whom do fruits belong? 1. Natural fruits, likewise mixed fruits taken in the sense of theologians, per se belong to the owner of the fruitful thing, with expenses made by another for producing the fruits nevertheless being compensated. I said per se, on account of the things to be said concerning the possessor in good faith who is not the owner of the thing.

2. Industrial fruits, taken in the sense of theologians, belong to him who produced them, even if in producing them he used another's thing, yet under the burden of compensating the damages which he voluntarily caused by using another's thing.

3. Civil fruits - just like natural fruits - belong to the owner of the thing through which they were obtained, if the use of the thing is of itself apt for producing fruits, such as rental payments; they belong - just like industrial fruits - to him who produced them, if it is a question of interest on money.

IV. To production can be reduced specification, which is had when someone fashions a new object from another's matter, for example a statue from a stone. Therefore specification is a mode of acquiring ownership,¹ because neither the active power from which the new species principally proceeds, nor the new species itself, was possessed by the possessor of the thing not yet changed; nevertheless the possessor of this thing should be, or be made, unharmed.

Insofar as the aforesaid things are modified by civil law, see the law of one's country.

¹ Encyclical Quadragesimo anno (Acta Apostolicae Sedis 1931, p. 194).

What is specification, and is ownership acquired through it? Specification is the introduction of a new form into matter. To have specification, although a substantial change of the thing is not physically required, nevertheless a substantial change is required morally; for example, if someone makes cloth from another's wool, a ring from gold, a ship from boards, wine, oil, or grain from grapes, olives, or ears. Whether the matter can be reduced to its prior form, or cannot be, the new species yields to another's material, with the price of the art employed being repaid. C. I. 408; C. G. 570.

If, however, the price of the industry far exceeds the price of the material, the craftsman can retain the species made by him, with the price of the material paid; and, if he acted in bad faith, he is bound besides to repair damages. C. I. 470, 475; C. G. 571, 577. - Therefore if a craftsman made a vessel from another's silver, the owner of the silver vindicates the vessel for himself, with the price of the workmanship repaid. If a sculptor made a statue from another's marble, he retains it for himself, with the price of the marble repaid. Gousset in C. G. 570, 571. From C. H. 383, the matter yields to the form, with the price of the matter paid, unless the value of the matter is more precious, or bad faith intervened.

From C. He. 726, the new thing belongs to the craftsman, if the labor is of greater value than the value of the material; otherwise it belongs to the owner of the material. From C. B. 950, 951, he who by his own industry so transforms several movable things that a new movable thing is produced acquires ownership of it, unless the value of the industry is notably lower than the value of the material; and then the rights in the preexisting material are extinguished. Nevertheless its owner must be rendered indemnified. Writing, drawing, painting, printing, and any other work performed on the surface of a thing are recalled to industry. L. 496; Inst. 1. 2. t. 1. §§ 25, 33, 34; C. A. 414, 415; C. L. 2302, 2303.

220. Accession is an increase of one's own thing coming from the fact that another thing accedes to it and is joined to it. Hence, in the present matter, it is a special mode of acquiring dominion of a thing acceding to a thing legitimately possessed, from which it is produced or to which it is accidentally united by nature or art. Therefore a twofold accession is distinguished: one by production or fructification is improperly so called, for properly it is the right of using and enjoying, which is governed by the principle: the thing fructifies for the owner (n. 160); the other, properly so called, by accidental union, whether to a movable thing or to an immovable thing, constituted by industry or nature, is governed by the principle: the accessory follows the principal.

221. I. Concerning the right of accession from the production of fruits. - Principle: He who has of some thing either entirely full dominion, that is, of disposing and enjoying, or full useful dominion, that is, of perfectly enjoying, which is called usufruct, has a right to all the fruits of the thing,¹ with the burden, however, of paying expenses which have been made by others for obtaining them.² Thus according to the principle: The thing fructifies for the owner.

¹ C.C., a. 546.

² C.C., a. 548.

The fruits to which he has a right are of three genera:³

³ C.C., a. 547.

a) natural fruits, which are produced by nature alone and arise spontaneously without any or almost any labor, as the fruits of trees, grass, hay, and certain trees; to which, according to the civil code,⁴ the offspring of animals also belong;

⁴ A. 583. - Cf. Italian code, a. 443 sq.; Spanish, a. 353; Austrian, a. 405 sq.

b) industrial fruits, which are produced by the thing itself only through cultivation or by reason of greater labor, as crops, legumes, wine; hence they were called mixed by theologians, because they are generated partly by the nature of the thing, partly by labor;

c) civil fruits, which by a certain fiction of law and because of analogy are so called and are counted among fruits: for they are not born from the thing itself, but are revenues which come from a contract entered into concerning the thing, as the price of leasing, annual revenues, pensions, ordinary gain received from a loan.

Fruits of one's own industry alone must not be confused with industrial fruits; the thing is not the cause of these but only the occasion or condition, namely, they are produced not from the thing itself but only on occasion of the thing, so that another's thing is a mere instrument or quasi-instrument, and itself of itself contributes nothing to their production, as a painting made with another's brush, or business conducted with another's money. These in no way belong to the owner of the thing, but to the producer alone.

222. II. Concerning the right of accession from union to movable things. - This can happen in three different ways: by adjunction, specification, and commixture.

Adjunction is the union of two things belonging to diverse owners and so coalescing into one that they cannot be separated without detriment, for example, a jewel inserted into a gold ring, an image painted on another's canvas, a poem written on another's paper.

Specification is the artificial making from another's matter of some thing distinct in species from the former, for example, a statue made from another's marble, a garment or shoe from cloth or leather belonging to another.

Commixture or confusion is the joining of things equally principal belonging to diverse owners, as if two heaps of wheat, two metals, two casks of wine are mixed, or a thing is made from matter belonging to diverse persons.

Concerning these, the principles and rules are valid:

1. That right of accession is totally subordinated to the principles of natural equity, so that the rules to be handed down are mere examples.

2. In the case of adjunction, the whole thing belongs to the owner of the principal thing,⁵ provided he pays the price of the lesser thing; for the accessory follows the principal. The thing to which another is joined for use, ornament, or complement is held to be principal; if none can be considered as principal or accessory, that is held as principal which excels in price or volume.⁶ If, however, the added thing is much more precious than the principal thing, and was added to it without the owner's knowledge, he will be able to demand that it be torn away from the principal thing, even if it cannot be separated without detriment to this.

⁵ C.C., a. 565.

⁶ A. 566-569. - Cf. Italian code, a. 464 sq.; Spanish, a. 375 sq.; Austrian, a. 419 sq.; German, a. 948.

3. In the case of specification, the owner of the matter can reclaim the thing made, paying the price of the labor; unless, however, the work expended far exceeds the price of the matter: then the craftsman can retain the thing, paying the price of the matter, as if from cheap wood a very beautiful statue had been sculpted.⁷ By Dutch, German, and Spanish law, the owner of the form can preserve the thing, the price of the matter having been paid, unless bad faith intervened or the value of the matter is greater.

⁷ A. 570-571; likewise Italian code, a. 468 sq.

4. In the case of commixture or confusion, the things mixed become the common property of the owners, according to the proportional part of each. Hence, if they can be separated, his own part must be returned to each owner; otherwise either the mixed things must be divided according to the proportion of quantity, quality, and value of each owner, or the whole must be sold so that the money may be divided according to the proportional part of each. If, however, the matter of one greatly surpasses the matter of another in quantity or value, the owner of the more excellent matter can reclaim the whole thing, paying the other the price of the matter which belongs to him.⁸

⁸ A. 572-575. - Cf. Italian code, a. 472; Austrian, a. 414; Spanish, a. 382; German, a. 947.

5. Besides these general rules received in every law, special rules also must be held, if any are handed down by law.

Thus from our Civil Code: a. When the thing remains common, it must be sold by bidding for the common utility of both owners (a. 575).

b. Whenever the owner of the matter from which, without his knowledge, a new species has been made can vindicate his matter, he can at his pleasure reclaim matter equal in every respect, or its price (a. 576).

c. He who has consumed another's matter without the owner's knowledge can be compelled by a judge to repair even the damage which the owner has suffered (a. 577).

223. III. The right of accession from union with immovable things made by the industry of man. - The principle is valid: the dominion of land draws with itself the dominion of those things which are built, planted, and sown on it, or are made on it, even by others, because they are presumed to have been made by the owner and at his expense;⁹ yet it is equitable that he who in good faith has made something on another's land receive compensation for the labor or matter used insofar as the owner has become richer thereby, just as it is also owed that he who on his own land has made something from another's matter compensate the other.

⁹ C.C., a. 552-553. - Cf. Italian code, a. 477 sq.; Spanish, a. 358 sq.; Austrian, a. 417 sq.; German, a. 946.

Moreover, in the application of the principles, the special statutes of civil law must be considered. Thus, for example, in our Civil Code:

1. If someone builds on his own land from another's materials, he must pay the price of the matter and can be condemned to repair damages, but the owner of the matter does not have the right of destroying such a building (a. 554).

2. If someone from his own materials builds on another's land, and indeed in bad faith, knowing it to be another's land, he can be compelled to remove the building at his own expenses and to repair damage if any has been brought; but the owner of the land can retain the building, paying the price of the matter and labor, no regard being had to the value perhaps increased (a. 555).

3. But if a possessor in good faith has so acted, he cannot be compelled to remove the building; but there is given to the owner of the land the option of paying either the price of the matter and labor, or at least the increase of value which from that building has accrued to his land (a. 555).

The reason for this last is because one person is not held to bear all damages. He who acted in good faith does not deserve a penalty; since nevertheless perhaps there is damage, it is equitable that both should undergo something of the damage, because the owner of the land ought not bear all.

224. IV. The right of accession from union with immovable things accomplished by the work of nature. - It can happen by alluvion or reliction, or by avulsion or change of river-bed.

Alluvion or reliction is a hidden increase which, by the force of the waters of any river naturally and continuously flowing, gradually accedes to some estate, according as the course of water brings new matter or leaves behind parts previously watered. Avulsion or change of river-bed is had when by a sudden force of waters a great part of some estate is torn away from it, or a river, its course having changed, leaves its bed and chooses a new one for itself. On occasion of these, sometimes there is the formation of a new island. This right varies more than the preceding according to the diverse laws of States;¹⁰ nevertheless, for the most part the following rules are valid:

¹⁰ French Code, a. 556-560; Italian Code, a. 453-461; Spanish Code, a. 366-373; Austrian Code, a. 407-412; German Code, a. 65 sq.

1. What by alluvion or reliction gradually accedes to the adjacent bank by the river's bringing or receding is legitimately acquired by the owner of the adjacent bank, because nature brings it to him.¹¹

¹¹ C.C., a. 556-557.

2. On the contrary, as to alluvions of the sea, lakes, and ponds, there is no right of accession, so that the limits of dominions remain as they were before.¹²

¹² C.C., a. 557-558.

3. What by avulsion and by the sudden force of waters is torn away in notable part from an estate is not acquired by the adjacent estate, but can be claimed by the owner, provided he does it within the time determined by law,¹³ namely, within a year.

¹³ C.C., a. 559.

4. The river-bed which, the bed having changed, has been abandoned by the river is acquired by those whose estates have been taken by the river, as an equitable compensation of damage to be divided among them according to proportional part.¹⁴

¹⁴ C.C., a. 563.

5. Islands formed in small rivers are acquired by the dominion of the nearer bank; or, if situated in the middle, they are divided between the riparian dominions from each side according to the middle line of the river.¹⁵ But those which are formed in a greater river, namely, one apt for navigation or for transporting things, cede to the republic, which has the right of dominion over these rivers, unless there is a contrary title or prescription.¹⁶

¹⁵ C.C., a. 561.

¹⁶ C.C., a. 560.