Well, even if someone started off intending to do a remake to get stared with moding, once they got a little experience they may decide to add or change things to make it more of their own, or even cut back and rewrite the plot if an entire remake is too much work.
In any case, there have been plenty of remakes that have not run into legal issues, so as long someone is aware of the potential problems from the start, they can make their own decisions.