Board Thread:Inclusion debates/@comment-5791028-20150523211904/@comment-1293767-20150523215157

This section of Valid Sources says:

DWU characters owned by others

The wrinkle that is difficult to understand for those who are new to the world of Doctor Who is the phenomenon of the author-owned character. Copyright for individual stories of Doctor Who has long resided in the individual writer, unless the British Broadcasting Corporation made other arrangements. This meant that a lot of characters — particularly species — were owned by individuals, not the BBC. Clever publishers were therefore able to release stories connected to Doctor Who without having to ask for the BBC's permission. Stories licensed by an individual author are generally allowed here.