Is Ownership Governed by Surface Rights or Mineral Rights ?
This is an interesting legal battle about whether
surface rights or mineral rights determines fossil
ownership.
Fight over dinosaur fossils comes down to what’s a mineral
By Amy Beth Hanson, AP, Washington Post, November 16, 2018
The article states:
"Ownership of two fossilized dinosaur skeletons found on a
Montana ranch in 2006 are the subject of a legal battle over
whether they are part of a property’s surface rights or mineral
rights. The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals issued a split
decision saying fossils are minerals under mineral rights laws."
In case of meteorites, would a fall found on the surface be
governed by surface rights and a buried meteorite dug
from the ground be governed by mineral rights? :-) :-)
Yours,
Paul H.
