By Michael Gottlieb

Imagine someone breaks into your home and steals a box that contains some of your bank and tax records, and perhaps some of your personal mementos such as pictures and letters. They then give the box away to a stranger and disappear. If you find that stranger in possession of your box, you will be able to recover it, because the law does not allow the stranger to keep, copy or use your property simply because he had no role in stealing it.