Hey all,
Not exactly a game dev - sorry - but a reviewer of sorts.
I'm doing a piece on two games: Goodbye Volcano High (GVH) and Snoot Game (SG).
One was made by folks to mock the other but it's fans swear up and down no assets were stolen, all assets are original, when it's clear that they copied the art and characters. I feel like they are hanging their hat on some strange technicality but its beyond me, so I ask the experts here:
The following characters have the same names, and use basically the same designs - although GVH in more animated and SG is stock poses.
Fang: https://static.wikia.nocookie.net/goodbye-volcano-high/images/0/00/Fang_tender_1.png/revision/latest?cb=20231203225819 vs https://static.wikia.nocookie.net/snoot-game/images/5/59/Fang_happy.webp/revision/latest/scale-to-width-down/1000?cb=20240130153926

Trish: https://static.wikia.nocookie.net/snoot-game/images/3/30/Trish_neutral.webp/revision/latest?cb=20240210021908 vs https://static.wikia.nocookie.net/goodbye-volcano-high/images/f/f9/Trish_body_young.png/revision/latest/scale-to-width/360?cb=20231204214354

This goes on for 90% of the cast unless they're direct parodies like Professor Fernsworth (Yes, it's a futurama joke).

What am I missing here? Are they just lying through their teeth or is there a technicality that I'm not aware of?