The point isn't that "no one owns a Pawprint design", it's that KeyKollectiv was first to put the pawprint design onto a keycap. Andy Warhol didn't own the Campbell soup can design but was first to silkscreen it into different colors.
Between this and Hammer's "Mummie" (KWK clone) and Star Wars/TMNT WoB caps, MD has made their position clear on where they stand with artistic/IP integrity. Classy.
DontReadThisJust not buying your argument.
If I started making keycaps with no knowledge of what came before, and made a kitten paw keycap, this is what it would look like.
Because that's what kitten paws look like.
DontReadThisThat feels like a very narrow view to me. That's like saying no one else can make SA profile keysets because SP makes them. It leads to monopolies on products and limits overall creativity. Soon there will be people gathering pitchforks when someone releases a keycap that uses the same material but looks completely different, all because someone did it first.
Besides these look nothing like the Keykollectiv meowcaps from what I've seen.
SkinjobThat's a crappy argument. You don't become an artist and not look at painters before you. In almost every creative endeavor (music, art), the onus is on the creator to do their research.
Artisan resin keycaps is such a narrow field that claiming ignorance is just downright irresponsible.
DontReadThisGood thing it's not resin then.
I also don't think your argument holds any water, so we can probably meet in the middle at downright disagreement.
Between this and Hammer's "Mummie" (KWK clone) and Star Wars/TMNT WoB caps, MD has made their position clear on where they stand with artistic/IP integrity. Classy.