Asalamalaykum Mufti saab i have question.this site www.templatemonster.com sells website layouts .i downloaded layouts from other people for free.and i sold to many people.their website rule is that you cannot resell layouts.all the layouts i have downloaded are first purchaed by someone.and they share.i asked our scholor and he said that the copyright rules in Islam is that when you get some stuff it is yours.you can do what ever you want.i sold this layouts to lots of people.so my question is is money halal by doing this.let me know.(2)my other question is about www.pondonline.com .is earning money with this site halal.you just pay $10 for membership.and your email address in entered into random.every time someone signs up for member ship the random person gets $10.so it halal Salamalaykum
1.While some Ulama are of the opinion that a copyright is not permissible and thus not binding, we are of the opinion that a registered copyright is proper and binding. Thus it was not correct for you to sell these templates and the money earned therefrom would not be halal. 2. We checked this site and found that the manner it works in is tantamount to gambling and is not permissible.
And Allah knows best
Mufti Ebrahim Desai
Fatwa Dept.