And yet it should be the artist's choice on how THEIR work is used... The question, really, is "Is this pixel-art thing even the same picture, legally speaking

And yet it should be the artist's choice on how THEIR work is used... The question, really, is "Is this pixel-art thing even the same picture, legally speaking?" And the answer is: "We'll never know, because a legal decision is too expensive for one of the parties to obtain."