this post was submitted on 10 Jan 2025
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That's not how copyright works. Copyright is a legal concept, not a technological or physical one. If the intent was to be inspired by a 3DBenchy and it's not "transformative" (as in, into a different medium from a 3D model entirely), it's infringing. It doesn't matter how many vertices in the mesh are different if the person making it started with a 3DBenchy in mind.
At best, if your intent is to mock the original, you try to argue that it's parody and thus fair use, but it would still very definitely be a derivative work regardless. Any further downstream modifications would thus also be assumed to be infringing the copyright of the original unless they were (successfully) claimed to be parody too.
I thought it was obvious you wouldn't say "hey I just took your benchy model and changed N vertices". But just "happened" to inadvertently create a benchy lookalike.
Also there is definitely a point where it would be safe to reproduce the benchy design otherwise we could point at anything on earth and say "that's a heavily modified benchy."
Or are we all benchy? Am I a benchy with a thousand modified vertices?
So let's be pragmatic there is nothing preventing me even to start a new design that vaguely ressemble the Benchy design. All it takes is for that "vaguely" to be enough so that you could argue you were not making a benchy redesign but just stumbled on something that could look Like a benchy.
Again, it all depends on intent. You can try to just "happen" to "inadvertently" create a benchy lookalike, but your success depends on whether you can bullshit the judge into believing that, not the actual degree of similarity.
I'm more surprised anyone cares at all.
This is the internet.
Yarr.
I am ~~Spartac~~ Benchy!
No, I am Benchy!