diff --git a/activity.go b/activity.go
index e7a9643..b764e0c 100644
--- a/activity.go
+++ b/activity.go
@@ -400,8 +400,7 @@ func (a *Activity) Recipients() ItemCollection {
 	if len(alwaysRemove) > 0 {
 		removeFromAudience(a, alwaysRemove...)
 	}
-	rec, _ := ItemCollectionDeduplication(&a.To, &a.Bto, &a.CC, &a.BCC, &a.Audience)
-	return rec
+	return ItemCollectionDeduplication(&a.To, &a.Bto, &a.CC, &a.BCC, &a.Audience)
 }
 
 // Clean removes Bto and BCC properties
diff --git a/actor.go b/actor.go
index 7a0173a..167cc42 100644
--- a/actor.go
+++ b/actor.go
@@ -306,8 +306,7 @@ func ServiceNew(id ID) *Service {
 }
 
 func (a *Actor) Recipients() ItemCollection {
-	rec, _ := ItemCollectionDeduplication(&a.To, &a.Bto, &a.CC, &a.BCC, &a.Audience)
-	return rec
+	return ItemCollectionDeduplication(&a.To, &a.Bto, &a.CC, &a.BCC, &a.Audience)
 }
 
 func (a *Actor) Clean() {
diff --git a/intransitive_activity.go b/intransitive_activity.go
index 6c38587..03e3fff 100644
--- a/intransitive_activity.go
+++ b/intransitive_activity.go
@@ -135,10 +135,7 @@ type (
 
 // Recipients performs recipient de-duplication on the Activity's To, Bto, CC and BCC properties
 func (i *IntransitiveActivity) Recipients() ItemCollection {
-	actor := make(ItemCollection, 0)
-	actor.Append(i.Actor)
-	rec, _ := ItemCollectionDeduplication(&actor, &i.To, &i.Bto, &i.CC, &i.BCC, &i.Audience)
-	return rec
+	return ItemCollectionDeduplication(&ItemCollection{i.Actor}, &i.To, &i.Bto, &i.CC, &i.BCC, &i.Audience)
 }
 
 // Clean removes Bto and BCC properties
diff --git a/item_collection.go b/item_collection.go
index b126004..6de23f3 100644
--- a/item_collection.go
+++ b/item_collection.go
@@ -89,7 +89,7 @@ func (i ItemCollection) Contains(r Item) bool {
 }
 
 // ItemCollectionDeduplication normalizes the received arguments lists into a single unified one
-func ItemCollectionDeduplication(recCols ...*ItemCollection) (ItemCollection, error) {
+func ItemCollectionDeduplication(recCols ...*ItemCollection) ItemCollection {
 	rec := make(ItemCollection, 0)
 
 	for _, recCol := range recCols {
@@ -105,14 +105,14 @@ func ItemCollectionDeduplication(recCols ...*ItemCollection) (ItemCollection, er
 			}
 			var testIt IRI
 			if cur.IsObject() {
-				testIt = IRI(cur.GetID())
+				testIt = cur.GetID()
 			} else if cur.IsLink() {
 				testIt = cur.GetLink()
 			} else {
 				continue
 			}
 			for _, it := range rec {
-				if testIt.Equals(IRI(it.GetID()), false) {
+				if testIt.Equals(it.GetID(), false) {
 					// mark the element for removal
 					toRemove = append(toRemove, i)
 					save = false
@@ -128,7 +128,7 @@ func ItemCollectionDeduplication(recCols ...*ItemCollection) (ItemCollection, er
 			*recCol = append((*recCol)[:idx], (*recCol)[idx+1:]...)
 		}
 	}
-	return rec, nil
+	return rec
 }
 
 // FlattenItemCollection flattens the Collection's properties from Object type to IRI
diff --git a/natural_language_values_test.go b/natural_language_values_test.go
index a4ca24f..7b595f1 100644
--- a/natural_language_values_test.go
+++ b/natural_language_values_test.go
@@ -477,9 +477,10 @@ func TestNaturalLanguageValues_Equals(t *testing.T) {
 		want bool
 	}{
 		{
-			name: "equal-key-value", n: NaturalLanguageValues{LangRefValue{
-			Ref:   "en",
-			Value: "test123#",
+			name: "equal-key-value",
+			n: NaturalLanguageValues{LangRefValue{
+				Ref:   "en",
+				Value: "test123#",
 			}},
 			args: args{
 				with: NaturalLanguageValues{LangRefValue{
@@ -490,9 +491,10 @@ func TestNaturalLanguageValues_Equals(t *testing.T) {
 			want: true,
 		},
 		{
-			name: "not-equal-key", n: NaturalLanguageValues{LangRefValue{
-			Ref:   "en",
-			Value: "test123#",
+			name: "not-equal-key",
+			n: NaturalLanguageValues{LangRefValue{
+				Ref:   "en",
+				Value: "test123#",
 			}},
 			args: args{
 				with: NaturalLanguageValues{LangRefValue{
@@ -503,9 +505,10 @@ func TestNaturalLanguageValues_Equals(t *testing.T) {
 			want: false,
 		},
 		{
-			name: "not-equal-value", n: NaturalLanguageValues{LangRefValue{
-			Ref:   "en",
-			Value: "test123#",
+			name: "not-equal-value",
+			n: NaturalLanguageValues{LangRefValue{
+				Ref:   "en",
+				Value: "test123#",
 			}},
 			args: args{
 				with: NaturalLanguageValues{LangRefValue{
diff --git a/object.go b/object.go
index 10fbcd3..61b2488 100644
--- a/object.go
+++ b/object.go
@@ -278,8 +278,7 @@ func (o Object) MarshalJSON() ([]byte, error) {
 // Recipients performs recipient de-duplication on the Object's To, Bto, CC and BCC properties
 func (o *Object) Recipients() ItemCollection {
 	var aud ItemCollection
-	rec, _ := ItemCollectionDeduplication(&aud, &o.To, &o.Bto, &o.CC, &o.BCC, &o.Audience)
-	return rec
+	return ItemCollectionDeduplication(&aud, &o.To, &o.Bto, &o.CC, &o.BCC, &o.Audience)
 }
 
 // Clean removes Bto and BCC properties
@@ -569,6 +568,10 @@ func (o Object) Equals(with Item) bool {
 			}
 		}
 		if w.URL != nil {
+			if o.URL == nil {
+				result = false
+				return nil
+			}
 			if !w.URL.GetLink().Equals(o.URL.GetLink(), false) {
 				result = false
 				return nil
diff --git a/object_test.go b/object_test.go
index d846d1c..63bb1d7 100644
--- a/object_test.go
+++ b/object_test.go
@@ -272,11 +272,6 @@ func TestRecipients(t *testing.T) {
 	if len(second) != 0 {
 		t.Errorf("Second Objects array should have exactly 0(zero) elements, not %d", len(second))
 	}
-
-	_, err := ItemCollectionDeduplication(&first, &second, nil)
-	if err != nil {
-		t.Errorf("Deduplication with empty array failed")
-	}
 }
 
 func validateEmptyObject(o Object, t *testing.T) {
@@ -751,16 +746,16 @@ func TestSource_MarshalJSON(t *testing.T) {
 			wantErr: false,
 		},
 		{
-			name:    "MediaType",
-			fields:  fields{
+			name: "MediaType",
+			fields: fields{
 				MediaType: MimeType("blank"),
 			},
 			want:    []byte(`{"mediaType":"blank"}`),
 			wantErr: false,
 		},
 		{
-			name:    "OneContentValue",
-			fields:  fields{
+			name: "OneContentValue",
+			fields: fields{
 				Content: NaturalLanguageValues{
 					{Value: "test"},
 				},
@@ -769,8 +764,8 @@ func TestSource_MarshalJSON(t *testing.T) {
 			wantErr: false,
 		},
 		{
-			name:    "MultipleContentValues",
-			fields:  fields{
+			name: "MultipleContentValues",
+			fields: fields{
 				Content: NaturalLanguageValues{
 					{
 						Ref:   "en",
@@ -803,3 +798,55 @@ func TestSource_MarshalJSON(t *testing.T) {
 		})
 	}
 }
+
+func TestObject_Equals(t *testing.T) {
+	type args struct {
+		with Object
+	}
+	tests := []struct {
+		name string
+		o    Object
+		args args
+		want bool
+	}{
+		{
+			name: "equal-empty-object",
+			o:    Object{},
+			args: args{
+				with: Object{},
+			},
+			want: true,
+		},
+		{
+			name: "equal-object-just-id",
+			o:    Object{ID: "test"},
+			args: args{
+				with: Object{ID: "test"},
+			},
+			want: true,
+		},
+		{
+			name: "equal-object-id",
+			o:    Object{ID: "test", URL: IRI("example.com")},
+			args: args{
+				with: Object{ID: "test"},
+			},
+			want: true,
+		},
+		{
+			name: "equal-false-with-id-and-url",
+			o:    Object{ID: "test"},
+			args: args{
+				with: Object{ID: "test", URL: IRI("example.com")},
+			},
+			want: false,
+		},
+	}
+	for _, tt := range tests {
+		t.Run(tt.name, func(t *testing.T) {
+			if got := tt.o.Equals(tt.args.with); got != tt.want {
+				t.Errorf("Equals() = %v, want %v", got, tt.want)
+			}
+		})
+	}
+}
diff --git a/place.go b/place.go
index a8bf115..6028f9f 100644
--- a/place.go
+++ b/place.go
@@ -192,9 +192,7 @@ func (p Place) MarshalJSON() ([]byte, error) {
 
 // Recipients performs recipient de-duplication on the Place object's To, Bto, CC and BCC properties
 func (p *Place) Recipients() ItemCollection {
-	var aud ItemCollection
-	rec, _ := ItemCollectionDeduplication(&aud, &p.To, &p.Bto, &p.CC, &p.BCC, &p.Audience)
-	return rec
+	return ItemCollectionDeduplication(&p.To, &p.Bto, &p.CC, &p.BCC, &p.Audience)
 }
 
 // Clean removes Bto and BCC properties
diff --git a/profile.go b/profile.go
index 17963b5..26398b4 100644
--- a/profile.go
+++ b/profile.go
@@ -164,9 +164,7 @@ func (p Profile) MarshalJSON() ([]byte, error) {
 
 // Recipients performs recipient de-duplication on the Profile object's To, Bto, CC and BCC properties
 func (p *Profile) Recipients() ItemCollection {
-	var aud ItemCollection
-	rec, _ := ItemCollectionDeduplication(&aud, &p.To, &p.Bto, &p.CC, &p.BCC, &p.Audience)
-	return rec
+	return ItemCollectionDeduplication(&p.To, &p.Bto, &p.CC, &p.BCC, &p.Audience)
 }
 
 // Clean removes Bto and BCC properties
diff --git a/relationship.go b/relationship.go
index d5e366b..f2eb455 100644
--- a/relationship.go
+++ b/relationship.go
@@ -181,9 +181,7 @@ func (r Relationship) MarshalJSON() ([]byte, error) {
 
 // Recipients performs recipient de-duplication on the Relationship object's To, Bto, CC and BCC properties
 func (r *Relationship) Recipients() ItemCollection {
-	var aud ItemCollection
-	rec, _ := ItemCollectionDeduplication(&aud, &r.To, &r.Bto, &r.CC, &r.BCC, &r.Audience)
-	return rec
+	return ItemCollectionDeduplication(&r.To, &r.Bto, &r.CC, &r.BCC, &r.Audience)
 }
 
 // Clean removes Bto and BCC properties
diff --git a/tombstone.go b/tombstone.go
index 88878ec..35d0364 100644
--- a/tombstone.go
+++ b/tombstone.go
@@ -170,9 +170,7 @@ func (t Tombstone) MarshalJSON() ([]byte, error) {
 
 // Recipients performs recipient de-duplication on the Tombstone object's To, Bto, CC and BCC properties
 func (t *Tombstone) Recipients() ItemCollection {
-	var aud ItemCollection
-	rec, _ := ItemCollectionDeduplication(&aud, &t.To, &t.Bto, &t.CC, &t.BCC, &t.Audience)
-	return rec
+	return ItemCollectionDeduplication(&t.To, &t.Bto, &t.CC, &t.BCC, &t.Audience)
 }
 
 // Clean removes Bto and BCC properties