Scener here since the early 90s. The demoscene is what I've always sort of called the great "third way" of software development after commercial and open-source. The first two are very concerned with copyright (and left as it were) while the demoscene exists in an alternative universe where copyright doesn't <i>really</i> exist and what is and isn't allowed is complex enough to warrant a military-industrial program a la the Human Terrain System [1]. It's almost impossible to succinctly describe, and is probably a big part of why the Demoscene is now (finally) recognized as a UNESCO cultural heritage of several countries.<p>In the demoscene universe you exist as an individual (scener) with a reputation, or a public "face", then as part of a team (group) with its own reputation/face, and finally and to a much lesser extent as part of a nation-state with a reputation.<p>Face is gained by making interesting team productions (prods) and successfully competing at competitions (parties) in various strata of competition (compos). You can of course also release prods outside of competitive parties (a release), but true social acceptance in the scene comes from competing, doing well, and competing regularly at higher and higher profile parties.<p>Where it gets interesting is in understanding the culture of what's allowed and not allowed in a prod. It's a complex mixture of compo rules, technological challenge, novelty, social norms and customs, and several other things that range from easily discernable to impossibly vague. But if you participate in the scene for any length of time you <i>know</i> what's allowed and what's not. For example, some groups in the last year released prods that had obviously AI generated components to them. The scene generally responded to those prods like a overamped shellfish allergy responds to shrimp -- not well [2]<p>You can make tribute prods that recreate assets, remix music, or squash, stretch, or otherwise shift the artistic vision of other works just so long as you do it "right". The scene reward a certain amount of original effort, while outright copying is villainized, unless of course the copying is done in a way that works within the culture of the scene. The use of a 3d framework made by your group? Totally fine. Use of a framework made by another scener and released to the scene? Also fine. Use of Unreal engine? Controversial.<p>While AI generated assets were hated, I would <i>almost</i> bet that a demo prod, synthesized from other demo prods, in the <i>right</i> context (maybe in a wild compo) would do well.<p>The scene is complex, and interesting. There are a <i>few</i> efforts to academically catalog and study it, and I hope it gets a really thorough treatment from anthropologists because the demoscene is a <i>really</i> interesting phenomenon.<p>1 - <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Human_Terrain_System" rel="nofollow">https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Human_Terrain_System</a><p>2 - <a href="https://www.pouet.net/topic.php?which=12637&page=1" rel="nofollow">https://www.pouet.net/topic.php?which=12637&page=1</a>