Let's say I generate a new address and by some miracle it has Bitcoin already in it belonging to somebody else. Is it legal to just take it? I understand those odds are very low, no need to lecture me, I'm just interested.
well i wouldnt really consider it stealing, because you created your own address and someone just happened to use it before you. its a fault in the bitcoin system, not considered stealing imo.
my thoughts too , and its hard to locate and know where it came from or who is the real owner of btc.
No, it is still stealing. The question is not who is the owner of the address, but who is the owner of the BTC. As many, many people have already said, the BTC was put into that address by someone and that person is the owner until they decide to transfer the funds to someone else either by sending them on or transferring ownership of the address containing them.
All of you crooks who think otherwise, the same thing could be said of a house, car etc. If I go to the locksmith and have him make some random keys, and I try them on some random cars and houses and one of them matches (which has a lot better odds than the bitcoin example btw), does that make me the owner of said car/house? No, of course not. You may own the key but not to the contents or object it unlocks.