alt Hacker Newsthe attribution point is the real crux. the demo scene actually had a strong culture of crediting influences and techniques greets, shoutouts, releasing source code. the copying was open and celebrated. the problem with modern inspired by work isn't the copying itself,it's doing it silently and letting audiences assume full originality
My recollection is that the .MOD tracker music scene was the same. Credit your samples and nobody bats an eye! Be seen as "stealing" a sample, and you're persona non grata. It's really that simple.