negative community

A term of art. Used in reference to the political economy as it was when those things which were common to all belonged no more to one than to the others, and hence no one could prevent another from taking of these common things that portion which he judged necessary to subserve his wants. While he was using them others could not disturb him, but when he had ceased to use them, if they were not things which were consumed by the fact of use, the things immediately re-entered into the negative community and another could not use them. See Geer v Connecticut, 161 US 519, 525, 40 L Ed 793, 795, 16 S Ct 600.