i think copying is not only harmful to the og creator of said thing, but also to the dude who decided to steal. it kinda limits their own creativity, makes them more dependent on other peoples works just to create theirs. its a lose-lose situation. so no, copying or/and using someone elses creativity is not okay.
Honestly? Copying ponies instead of being creative is definitely not okay. That's someone's skin that they worked hard on, and the idea of someone taking your skin that you worked hard for is really just bad in general. And blaming it on "Shading Test" to hide the fact that you'll copy is not cool. like shading tests are okay and all but at least ask for permission from the rightful owner. EVEN if you're trolling, copying skins in general are NOT okay and should not be normalized. you're taking someones hard work, people should take note of that.
that's practically all I have to say as from someone who's been copied before 
people should really stop the copy shenanigans 
-Jester
honestly no, cuz like, it's their own creation?? as a person who likes ponytown, a lot btw, seeing those people that copy skins r like, unoriginal imo, especially the tutorial/tut skins and the troll skins, those troll skins r like,, copying a skin that is generally used, and it gets irritating in some cases. the tut skins however REALLY annoy me, even though it helps a person learn how to shade properly, because like, a person made that stuff?? you'd see several tut skins walking around and just give no credits, at ALL. and they also can copy the style broo like I saw a skin, MAPS SHELLY SKIN. and the skins had the tut skin shading style (I call it zebra/raccoon shading) and it was just awful. like srs I don't like how the tut skins r just out there, it can also break someone's reputation... (additional thing is uhh the shelly skin was also being weirddd like. predatory behavior to a toodles skin)
that's all that I can say, I hope that you understand this btw ^^
-pom 