Depends on the amount. But i think asking for permission is almost always the best route. Most people are happy to share what they've made, as long as you make it your own!

hasn't happened to me but also there's plenty of freely offered page codes (esp if you look on tumblr) that come with built-in credit to the creator so it seems messed up to just lift indiscriminately

I don't care one iota, but my website is sort of duct taped together so i don't know how instructive it would be! I try to make as much free-to-use code available as possible so there's a version of the stuff I do that's actually comprehensible.

Also, when it comes down to small chunks of code (and I think most of the time it is just small bits - people who need a whole page precoded are most likely going to use a free one because they have better documentation), I don't think anyone really owns anything lol

@disc-content: modifying someone's code so it looks at least a little different is what I try to do, just without the asking for permission part, ehehehe.

@roccie: huh, I didn't know folks on tumblr compiled that kind of stuff. I knew there was always the ability to edit html, but I've found the code on most premade themes complex enough to be near-incomprehensible... I'll have to dig around over there and see what I can find.

its good to do it