Official Whifflings Terms of Service

_{This is all from mewhaku, the species creator, so I will say, I. Just so no one gets confused.}

Now I am someone who tries to be rather lax, but with all closed species-- they do come with certain rules! This was a long time writing, but it is all pretty much normal stuff. 

"Closed" in regards to this species means:

• You cannot make your own without permission.
• -----Aka, if you make something similar by the by, it will not be able to participate in this group/masterlist.
• -----Not to mention if you pretty much copied or lifted lines or art off this group, you will be in the realm of copyright violation.
• -----I can't stop you from having a similar idea, that isn't exactly art theft by itself-- but if you directly take, copy, or otherwise manipulate anything I or members of this group have created, we will have a huge problem.
• When you assume ownership of a character/design, you do agree to a few rules of ownership.
• -----You also do indeed own that design. The species concept does belong to me, mewhaku, but that character is yours. Congrats!

Rules for the Whifflings Designs/Use:

1. My name (mewhaku) must be directly mentioned on any artwork featuring a Whifflings, or at the least, the group is cited. (I know pinging a user each/every time can be something people get concerned over.) You cannot claim to own the species concept. (If you happen to forget, no worries, I'll just probably remind you when I see the artwork! Not too big a problem.)
_{I do understand sometimes commissioned artworks may not always know this rule-- so please don't feel bad if me or someone else points this out!}
2. You must give credit to the particular designer of your adopt at least once if at all possible. They'll be happy to see the design they worked on being enjoyed. 
3. You can make minor changes to the design. These changes must be approved by mewhaku. You cannot make these changes without input. You may make larger changes official via the items offered at the Ticket Shop!
4. Users who have been banned from whifflings cannot own a Whiffling. If you paid for a design before getting banned, that design will be considered "dead" or "inactive". You can still draw it, but it will not participate in the group. I cannot take away your rights to a character/design/piece of art you paid for. It just won't be a Whiffling anymore! 
5. A design will also be noted as "inactive" if the account associated with it is deactivated. If you ever come back, please update us!
6. On that note, anyone found to be selling a design inauthentically (aka you don't own it), especially an "inactive" design, will swiftly be banned, and reported since you'll be selling the artwork inauthentically. In lieu of that, I may also simply tell any buyer you're speaking with you're in the wrong for doing so. Don't be lame.
7. Adopts cannot be resold for higher than you paid unless you also have other artwork going along with the design. Whifflings may be traded to other users as well, with the knowledge that you're telling the buyer "Hey join the group", and that you go through the proper channels. Gifted or free Whifflings may not be sold (barring art). Only gifted or traded. ***(The group may in cases of need offer the ability to sell a design at an agreed upon value or offer funds if able, but this is normally prohibited.) 
8. All trades, sales, gifting must be done officially through the group. We cannot change the masterlist otherwise. If a design is "lost" due to improper exchanges, it will become "inactive." You will have to provide your own proof that you own it if you're the buyer. Please do exchanges through the group.
9. Any use of Whifflings artwork that you did not create yourself must be properly accredited. If you have somehow lost track of who drew what, please check out our Group Artists journal. We keep track of who's done official artwork for the group itself. If you lost the name of someone you commissioned art from-- sorry, we cannot help. (I might be able to try though!)
10. For individuals using toyhou.se to keep track of characters, the creator must be listed as "mewhaku" for any designs there. (If you designed it, you can list yourself as a designer-- so on/so forth.) If you use sta.sh-- please do make sure you wrote down on there somewhere the species credits!
11. Also a note- you may always take aspects of a Whifflings character and reuse them for something entirely new. Key words being "entirely new". Characters morph and change-- just don't call it a Whifflings anymore or use any distinct species concepts! _{(Aka, say you are me, and what to use aspects of Vardan's character for an entirely different project-- I could definitely make an entirely new character, with say, personality traits and someone who's a botanist or something from the original idea.)}
12. With the option of We Will Buy Back Unwanted Whifflings - Please note that while ideally we would like to offer MYOs/Customs (most particularly in cases where the character potentially coming back to us is traded for) if you 'abuse' this system by trading in a Whiffling, getting a MYO/Custom, making it, doing it again, etc, etc... you will get a 'strike'. We currently do not have an official strike system, but you will not be permitted to do this in a dishonest fashion to make more and more official designs. Remember, it is always at the discretion of mewhaku whether or not a design will be taken back after negotiation. It is no promise, more of a hopeful 'let's see what we can negotiate'. Whifflings that were obtained via trade or gift will not be offered funds in return, barring cases of need as shown above. (Or cases in which there was a lot of artwork made for them.) If you are found to be abusing the 'need' system, that will also be frowned upon to say the least. Thank you for bearing with us!

Rules may be amended or added as time moves forward/situations come up-- but you can always ask if you need a TLDR on something or if you feel like something was not clarified here. I as a species owner do tend to be understanding, but I do have some hard lines.

If you or anyone else you know see something in violation of these rules, please do let us know here at the group! We will try to rectify the situation so that all involved have some closure with it. We'd hope that people just have some fun in the group, and don't try to ruin experiences for one another-- or potentially harm any of the artists creating visual works. (Or me either with my creative concept!) A lot of this species and its worldbuilding are made all the better by collaboration-- and the last thing anyone wants to see is someone being taken advantage of regarding their creations. We don't bite! (Really!)

A lot of the rules regarding selling are also to ensure designs don't get lost, or turn inactive. It really helps everyone if people are organized and make things official. Thanks!