Flattery or Robbery: Copying Other LEGO Builders and the Line Between Inspiration and Imitation

Everyone starts their LEGO building journey somewhere—but only the first person had to start at ground zero. The rest of us get to stand on the shoulders of the builders who came before us, imitating and improving. Techniques that today are ubiquitous were once the cutting edge of an innovative builder’s palette. Few techniques were created in a vacuum; for the most part, one builder’s technique becomes refined and refined again by those who come after. But when is copying another builder flattery and when does it become robbery? How can you give credit when you may never be able to trace the technique back to its first use or distinguish the original from later improvements?

I haven’t got any magical formula or measuring stick that will solve the question forever. It will always be hard to remember exactly where all your ideas came from, and it will always take some effort to give credit where credit’s due. But it’s still worthwhile to consider how we can build a stronger LEGO building community through constructive copying. So let’s get started!

Copying LEGO MOCs

Someone asked to reverse engineer this… I was like, good luck, brother.

There are several ways to copy another builder, so we’ll start from the most flagrant and work our way down. Obviously, copying a whole MOC is about as extreme as it gets. I don’t know if this is something that happens frequently, but I was contacted once for permission to rebuild and display a MOC of mine with credit, so apparently it’s not unheard of. Besides, building a set is kind of copying another builder’s MOC, right? And some builders post instructions which is basically an invitation to copy their MOC, right?

Copying a MOC without permission is certainly more challenging than plagiarism in an essay, and thus more valuable. Anyone who can reverse-engineer a MOC of mine deserves respect, for sure. It can be an effective way to practice your skill with the brick and learn new techniques. However, if you intend to do anything with a MOC that's not your original design, such as putting it on public display, I strongly recommend contacting the original builder and ensuring that’s okay with them. And it should go without saying that you need to clarify that it’s not your design and credit the original fan designer.

(As an aside, this is similar to reposting someone else’s MOC: be very sure to give credit, wherever you post, and it’s best to do what BrickNerd tries hard to do, contact the builder and ask for permission.)

This only applies to fan designs, not ones that come from LEGO sets. Those are provided to the world to build and rebuild and are easy to recognize and credit as alt-builds and mods. However, straight-out copying other community builders’ MOCs and displaying them without credit should probably be viewed as theft. If you would like to be considered a builder in your own right, branch out your building techniques as fast as you can. (If you just want something nice for your mantelpiece that’s never shared publicly, well, that’s a different matter.)

Which brings us to the real knotty question. How far do you have to branch out to be a builder in your own right? When do you stop being annoying and start being flattering? Is it possible to be inspired by someone else’s style but still make it your own?

Copying a Building Style

Many LEGO builders have a recognizable style, especially builders who tend to stick within one genre. If you are familiar with any of the following builders’ bodies of work, you can probably guess who built these MOCs (if not, click through to discover who they are!).

For those of us who started building with LEGO at a young age, it’s almost inevitable that we begin by copying the style of builders we admire. After all, it’s how babies learn to talk by imitating those around them. Developing a personal style is something that comes with time as our own personalities develop, and there’s nothing wrong with taking cues from other people. Plus, it’s entirely possible to iterate on someone else’s style while working with a new concept, making the MOC you create very much your own.

That said, it’s possible to be eerily similar to a “big name” builder (either on purpose or accidentally). That’s akin to putting The Lord of the Rings down in your competing title analysis for a fantasy series you’re writing. Are you really in that league? Getting inspiration is great, but try to diversify somewhere. You probably don’t want your work to be straight up compared to Luke Hutchinson, César Soares, or Markus Rollbühler. You definitely don’t want to look like the knock-off version of one of them.

Markus’s castle style, 2017-2020

Markus’s castle style, 2017-2020

Markus’s castle style, 2017-2020

Markus’s castle style, 2017-2020

To see some examples of the way one builder’s style has later swept through a generation of newer builders, compare these samples of Markus’ work above to other builders’ medieval MOCs below. In these cases, is it a generation of builders experimenting and learning? Is it imitation or flattery? Or is it a copy-paste of a style that should be credited?

Elias, 2020

BrickheXe, 2022

Justus, 2022

Jake, 2021

Joe, 2024

Every builder has their own voice and story, but if you copy another builder too closely, you’ll lose the opportunity to show the world something unique. Inspiration should be the wind filling our sails so we can journey farther, not a box we crawl into in order to be comfortable. We want to stand on the shoulders of the giants, not sneak into their pockets.

So how do you constructively copy another builder’s style? Style is a broad term that encompasses a range of different things. Colors, composition, and concept—that was how I described it in my article 10 Years as a LEGO Builder. To that, I’ll now add technique and presentation. If you love another builder’s techniques and colors, go for it and build away—but make sure your concept is different, change up the composition, or try a new presentation style. The more similar the style, the stronger the differences should be. Strike out, find something that’s new. Above all, find something that’s YOU. Ultimately, that is what will make your MOCs stand out.

In the following example, I took another builder’s concept, but changed the layout and colors; the inspiration is obvious, but so is my very different take. (It helps not to look at the MOC that is your inspiration as you build. Somehow, I managed to forget that the original had the buildings all in a clump.)

Try to be aware when your building style starts to resemble another builder’s style. Imitate what you love, but find a way to add your own unique touch.

As I said above, one surefire way to distinguish yourself is through a unique presentation. (On the other hand, a surefire way to NOT distinguish yourself is by copying the presentation…) Many builders carry a distinct presentation style across genres, and it practically turns into their signature. If you are imitating or being inspired by another builder’s building style, it’s a good idea to make your presentation significantly different from theirs, so viewers aren’t instantly associating your build with another builder.

The process of learning from other builders’ styles and forging your own probably won’t happen overnight. As I hinted before, especially for newer builders, copying is the way we learn and develop. Yes, it’s kind of a bummer if you’ve spent a few years developing your own super unique style and then a bunch of kids come along and copy it. But it’s part of the constructive process for the next generation of builders. For some reason, it’s a trend that has been especially visible in the castle-building community—or maybe it’s just that I’ve been in the castle-building community for ten years, so that’s where I’ve noticed it.

It’d be an article in its own right to trace the explosion of ultra-textured walls that followed Luke Hutchinson, or the landslide of bendy tiled roofs that swept down in the wake of César Soares, or the coruscation of ultra-polished gem-like houses that swim in the wake of Markus Rollbühler. As for me, my collection could never keep pace, and I just kept plodding along in my lane. But many newer castle creators built their collections around one of these styles. In time, they start finding their groove. If you’re one of them, just make sure it’s not a rut. No one wants to see a hundred other builders building just like his or herself. What great builders want to see is a hundred other builders learning, growing, and creating better and better MOCs because of their influence.

Case in point, the builders I picked on above for similarities to Markus’s style have each developed their own styles and voices, and I can’t close out the section without recognizing that!

Elias, 2023

BrickheXe, 2024

Justus, 2024

Jake, 2022

Joe, 2023

When should you credit another LEGO builder whose style you have imitated or been inspired by? At some point, there’d just be too many names to list; but keep in mind that for many even of the top builders, knowing that they’ve been an inspiration to others is a rewarding feeling, especially if they can see that you’re iterating on their style and taking it in new directions. Let the builders you look up to know about the good they’re doing!

Copying a Technique

A less glaring way to copy another builder is to take a single technique from them and pop it into your own MOC. For my part, this is something I highly recommend. In the first place, it’s almost impossible not to build with techniques someone has used before you. And in the second place, there’s a vast difference between copying a builder’s total style and copying a technique in my opinion. If you straight up copy my entire personal style (which, by the by, no one has ever done), I’d probably wince. Copy a technique I created, and I’m flattered. Many builders actually post breakdowns, allowing and encouraging you to reuse their techniques.

I’ve used the Snyder brothers’ floating cobblestone technique many times since seeing their breakdown article

I’ve used the Snyder brothers’ floating cobblestone technique many times since seeing their breakdown article

It’s always ideal to give a shout-out to a builder whose technique you have copied. I have to admit, this is not something I’ve been very good at, what with sheer forgetfulness and the difficulty of finding a MOC again even if I do remember it. Sometimes it’s also hard to know whether you changed a technique beyond recognition or not. I know Marcel’s rice terraces inspired mine, but did I really copy the technique?

As with copying another builder’s style, so with the technique—don’t follow too slavishly, but change it and make it your own. In particular, I would encourage you not to rush out and buy missing pieces to imitate a style, but let your limited collection force changes. As a young builder, this was undoubtedly what kept me from being just a poor imitation of the builders I admired. I didn’t have their pieces, so I simply had to come up with my own solution (which was usually not better, but at least it was different).

The extent to which you copy other builders can also be a good check on your own creativity. If you aren’t having to adapt techniques and change styles, maybe it’s time to branch out conceptually and try to build more unique subjects. As you get off the beaten path of what’s already been built a million times, you’ll find yourself obligated to be as creative in your technique and style as in your concept and story.

Giving Credit

As I said at the start of the last section, it really is impossible to build a MOC of any size without copying—maybe even unknowingly—someone else’s technique. Often, you won’t be able to find the original first case or maybe you both created it from scratch, especially if it’s something that has since shown up in official LEGO sets.

Speaking of, here’s a digression on that subject… Community-developed techniques or concepts eventually showing up in official LEGO sets is its own ball of wax, and I wish LEGO could find some way to acknowledge creators who have inspired significant details. I know that most official designers try to steer clear of fan community techniques, but sometimes they enter the AFOL lexicon to an extent that it is unavoidable (can you say cheese slope roof?).

For crying out loud, LEGO literally made an official version of my baby spaceman. Of course I would have liked a shout-out, but to be fair, the company would run into many of the same issues we face as individual creators trying to credit others. Quite possibly, they never saw my baby spaceman; maybe they saw some of the other baby builds that were inspired by me; Or maybe it was a totally in-house idea (though I would like to think that’s impossible, however unreasonable). In the end, I know I was the original baby space builder.

Besides, LEGO acknowledging an external source gets into tricky issues of IP and money and all that good stuff. Given the corporate reality, I’ll take the mass-produced adorable baby spacemen and the flattery of knowing that my idea perhaps trickled down into one of the biggest toy companies in the world. Is it ideal? No. But would it be practical for LEGO to credit community builders when they use their techniques? Most likely not.

As a general thing, LEGO’s inclusion of community-developed techniques or concepts don’t happen as a straight-up rip-off of one builder; rather, it happens after one builder’s technique or idea has already popped up in several other places. At some point, a good technique becomes public domain for all practical purposes. For example, if I see the same technique used by three or four builders and then incorporate it into a build, I don’t know who to credit. Besides, viewers of my MOC will also likely have seen the same technique in other places and they’ll know it’s not originally mine—without me having to say so.

You probably didn’t know that BrickNerd’s editor-in-chief was one of the first to slide horns into the old-style evergreen trees to make them look snowy. For a few years, builders using that technique gave him credit; now it’s entered the general knowledge pool for winter tree techniques.

And that’s okay; as creators, it’s fair that we get some recognition and reward for our work, but at some point we’ve had our fair share and it’s time to move on, develop new techniques, or celebrate those who are doing so. (Case in point, how long do we call a Lowell sphere a Lowell sphere before just accepting it is the standard technique for studs-out rounded building and included in countless YouTube technique round-ups?) If you’re knowingly copying someone’s technique, read the description on their photo to see if they give credit elsewhere or claim it as original. I use the same general rule that I would for a school paper, referencing facts: if it’s easy to find in three or more places, it’s common knowledge and doesn’t require a citation. But (unlike school papers) you should err on the side of giving credit. For sure, if you’ve only ever seen one builder build like that before, give credit where credit is due.

Giving Back

As I’ve already admitted, I’ve often forgotten or failed to give credit. However, another way to pay off those debts is to pay them forward; be helpful to newer LEGO builders by sharing techniques and offering constructive advice. Though it’s always good to push newer builders to find their own voice, there can be a time to accept other builders copying you, since you were once learning from someone else, too.

But more significant is the work you can do to continue developing new building techniques and refining your own MOC style. Push yourself to stop copying the old you as much as you want new builders to push past the copying stage. Once upon a time, you discovered someone else’s new technique and helped refine it, bringing it into the spotlight; now you are the pioneer builder blazing new trails that other builders can pave behind you. Don’t stagnate in the niche you’ve hollowed out for yourself. I’m not trying to say that you have to reinvent the wheel, but if you want to pay off a bit of the learner’s debt we all owe to those builders who went before us, add something to the communal knowledge base they left us with.

(As an aside, I personally hope my future builds will live up to these epic things I say in my articles. I can only do my best, and time will tell.)

Giving Thanks

In the past couple years, I’ve found myself imitating Markus Rollbühler’s “Trophy Scale” several times. I’ve intentionally tried to separate my builds by placing my figures on different bases, in different poses, and within different themes.

Markus’ Trophy on left, my own “Trophy Scale” creation on right

Markus’ Trophy on left, my own “Trophy Scale” creation on right

When my siblings and I wanted to go big for Brickworld 2023, it came naturally to us to think of Trophy Scale. We handed the task of creating the first figure to Josiah, whose style of building ensured that it would have plenty to distinguish it from Markus’s figures… such as, for instance, a high probability of falling apart if you looked at it wrong. And then we built backdrops, which got a bit out of hand.

This year, a couple of us built a Trophy Scale as a tribute to Markus, highlighting the leadership role he’s played in the castle community and the trailblazing he did for us in particular, developing the shape and style of a type of figure that we’ve come to really enjoy building with.

I could go on about other builders I’ve imitated over the years or wished I could imitate—particularly in my younger days, back when fifty faves or likes on a photo seemed unattainable and winning a contest felt as likely as a trip to the moon. Katie Walker, Sean Mayo, and Bruce Lowell certainly never noticed their building styles in anything I built, but without their builds to inspire me, I would not be the builder I am today… and I might not be a builder at all.

cheese mosaic by katie walker

To this day, I remember how dumbfounded I was when I first saw one of Katie’s cheese mosaics. I didn’t know LEGO bricks could do that! And as soon as I learned it was possible, I wanted to be doing that too—well, maybe not exactly spending hours fiddling with cheese slopes… though If I ever get stuck on a desert island with a million cheese slopes and nothing to do I might—but it made me want to inspire other people with LEGO creations too. For all the mind-blowing builders out there, thank you. You are the reason the next generation of LEGO builders exists.

It’s impossible to give out all the thanks that is due, but when an opportunity comes, take it. The world will be a better place.

Imitation or Flattery?

As I wrap up I have to admit that this is all coming from a builder without much skin in the game. No one has ever copied my style—in fact, I doubt my style is consistent enough for anyone to copy. I have no idea what it feels like to develop a unique style over the course of years and then suddenly see a generation of builders imitating it.

Few of my original techniques have ever been copied, either. You’d have to be crazy to lay down 1x1 round tiles on their edge for cobblestone or a pattern of interlocking minifigure hands as rugs. My Tiny Trailblazers/Baby Builds concept has been copied a little bit, generally with my permission and involvement and not universally enough to annoy me… at least not until LEGO snapped up the idea. But overall, I’m coming from the perspective of a builder who has benefited greatly from the inspiration and techniques of others, rather than a builder who has been consistently copied and imitated.

However, I am fairly confident that builders in both camps want to see the overall quality of LEGO builds improve, and we love to see techniques we’ve developed used for that end. What we don’t want to see, however, is a loss of diversity in building styles. We want new builders to be inspired by what we’ve done and take that inspiration to a place we would never have dreamed of.

So when it comes to copying other LEGO builders, the golden rule holds true here too: do what you’d want future builders to do when they borrow from you. Ask politely, give credit, and give thanks. Then go on to add your own touch and be the inspiration for the next generation.

Have you copied other builders? Or have you been copied? Let us know in the comments below!

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