What ringtones are free to distribute?

I want to add ringtones to a free mobile services page that I have, but I'm uncertain what ringtones are free to distribute?

How can one tell the difference between ringtones people made (and thus are free to distribute?) or ones that people bought and are giving away illegally?

Well that just goes to show how far behind in the times I am. I had no idea that there are illegal ringtones flowating around out there.

I wasn't suggesting the ringtones themselves are illegal - I meant that distributing them might be. I am not sure of this, this is why I am asking.

For instance, if you download a song from Itunes and pay $1.00 for it - then put it on a website for people to download for free - this is illegal.

Does the same premise not apply to ringtones? Are all ringtones outside copyright protection?

This is interesting...I actually have no clue and have never thought about it. I would assume you can't share ringtones that you have paid for. I don't know how you'd be tracked if you did though.

I don't have much of a clue myself. I'd assume though like ninikins that you wouldn't be able to share ringtones that have been purchased...kind of like music maybe?

I would believe that ringtones are protected by the same copyright laws other media are.

The safe bet would be to ensure that you have permission from the copyright owner on each ringtone before posting it for download.