How much modification needs to be done to a design before it's acceptable to stop calling it a remix and start referring to it as an original model?
This is just a general etiquette question, not a legal inquiry. I'm wondering what the general consensus is, or if there even is one, on how much of a design needs to be changed before it transitions to "inspired by" or "using concepts from" the original design rather than being considered a direct remix.
For example, say someone made a sweet model of a 3D printable bearing. If I take that model and make it thinner, that's obviously a remix. However, if I take that same bearing model and design a whole 3D printer around it, that's obviously no longer a remix of a bearing, it's my original model that happens to include someone else's model in its design. But on printables, am I allowed to call that my original model, given that someone else's work exists in it? And what if I just made a paint roller that integrates the same bearing design into the handle, is that different enough to call my own or is that still close enough that I should still call it a remix? Does it matter if I barely tweak the original model and just add a ton of stuff around it vs significantly altering the original and adding a little bit of stuff around it?
The selection in printables when creating a new model makes it sound like an original model has to be 100% original, but what if I design an entire airplane from scratch, and decide to include that bearing model as part of a built-in fidget spinner for the co-pilot? Do I still mark that as a remix of the bearing?
I realize there's no hard and fast rule here (unless it's 100% original), I'm just trying to get a general feel for the culture. I don't want to offend anyone by claiming a model as my own if I didn't make enough changes, but it also feels kinda crappy to mark a model as a remix if I've done 95% of the work.
RE: How much modification needs to be done to a design before it's acceptable to stop calling it a remix and start referring to it as an original model?
100%. If you use use ANY part of another design its a remix. What you are describing is incorporating other people work into a much larger design. You still have to follow the licensing requirements though, attribution etc.
If you spent so much time designing this super duper huge thing in the first place then just model up the bearing from scratch too.
Or upload your modified bearing separately with the correct attribution and in your main model put a link to the remixed bearing saying its available and needed for this print.