If I want to provide free patterns on my site, can I purchase them and distribute for free? Can I link to a site with free patterns? Can I copy from a book? I am not charging.

Do I need to contact someone to create a pattern just for me, so that I can distribute for free?

Thanks, in advance.

You will need to be the owner of the patterns if you wish to legally distribute them. If you purchase them with the intent of distributing, you better make sure you have those distribution agreements IN WRITING.

Good Luck

__________________
Bill the Builder

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Hiya Cup 1/2 full...Bill has made a very
important contribution answering your
question...his answer is concise too.

Adding to Bills warning...just because
you purchase or obtain something...
you don't necessarily have the right
to share what you acquired...

There are limits of use, etc. generally
to almost everything nowadays....

It's becoming more prominent for the
publishers, copyright owners, etc. of
their works to limit how you can use
what you obtain..through whatever
means...mail, digital downloads, etc.

I'll give you a brief on 5 primary types
of permissions associated with materials
not created by you personally...generally

1. PLR Private Lable Rights.
I like to obtain these rights when I
purchase or acquire certain products.

PLR rights allows me to wipe out the
name of whoever owns the original
works, designs, writings, graphics, etc.
and replace their name with mine...
giving the appearance and credit to
me ... I usually pay extra for that
privilege too.

2. MRR.. Master Resell Rights
This is nice to get this permission
when you buy a product, because
here you paid for it, but the creator
or agent that allows the granting
of this permission is now granting
you the privilege to resell it in its
form as you acquired it...you can
then perhaps make your investment
back as a minimum..maybe make a
profit...by selling the product and
what I'll explain next as Resell Rights.
So you are a Master Dealer sort of..
selling the package as you receive it.

3. RR..Resell Rights
Now this permission is much more
limiting in general...whereas you are
allowed to only sell the specific item
you acquired, but not the rights to
grant others the ability to give the
permission to sell the master rights.

4. Unrestricted Distribution Rights
Where this permission can get deep
into several and varying degrees of
distribution limitations, let me just
say for simplicity sake...you can
resell it, give it away, use it in part
but always giving credit back to the
original content creator...

5. Private Use Only
This is obvious...if you want to share
whatever it is in your possession...
like Bill said...get permission in writing.

Disclaimer: These explanations are general
in nature...they are short for reference only.
For a more detailed review, this writer suggests
that you seek legal advice before taking these
general notes as gospel and/or pursuing what
could possibly be construed as infringements
and/or theft.

All the above are excellent, valid, and important. You need to understand and follow the rules or you can find yourself in serious trouble.

You also asked about linking. You cannot link in such a way as to import the material or in any way represent that it is yours. However, you can link in the way of referral.

For example, Lisa would be happy I suspect (as would others) with a scenario like this. Say I have a financial site and am discussing the possibility of making money selling from a website. I could mention that an article explaining how to do it can be found at LINK. Even if, for some strange reason, she didn't really approve of my doing it, I do not think I would be in violation of any legalities.

Specifically, in regard to patterns, it is extremely likely that you would be able to get individual patterns (not in wholesale numbers from any one source) that the creator would welcome you to put on your site as long as you give full credit and a link to their site. This would help you and help them with traffic.

__________________
Good Success!

Douglas County Master Gardeners
"We don't always get what we want, but we always get what we expect."

Thank you for all the replies.
If I have a long list of links to free patterns (from other sites) that would work for me. My objective is traffic, not income from these patterns. I would give them full credit.

Would I need to contact these other sites for permission?

Carrie

As long as you are just linking to them as references that should be fine. The basic criteria is whether or not you are putting content from the other site on your site. You can always review, refer, or recommend other sites.

__________________
Good Success!

Douglas County Master Gardeners
"We don't always get what we want, but we always get what we expect."