this is more prevalent in furry circles but not limited to there. when someone makes an original design for a species, they can decide whether to make it an open or closed species.
a closed species means that the creator forbids other people from creating characters from that species (though sometimes compliance rules are made instead). as you can guess, this is mostly unenforceable; some people respect those wishes, others don't. some will shun the latter, some others won't care.
btw I made it sound simple, but by god, the people of both sides often have very strong opinions about it
this is more prevalent in furry circles but not limited to there. when someone makes an original design for a species, they can decide whether to make it an open or closed species.
a closed species means that the creator forbids other people from creating characters from that species (though sometimes compliance rules are made instead). as you can guess, this is mostly unenforceable; some people respect those wishes, others don't. some will shun the latter, some others won't care.
btw I made it sound simple, but by god, the people of both sides often have very strong opinions about it