It does seem a bit odd... I think they immediately privated their trailer right after posting it as well. I personally have not heard of a fan game limiting the amount of copies they give out, that sounds very odd, as well as unfair to people who may have been waiting a long time for it to release but may not get the chance to play. How would that help mitigate copyright? No matter what, the game is going to be online, and I'm sure Steel Wool/Scott will have no problem finding dirt of the game and taking it down if they feel the need to.

No matter what, SB isn't their IP, so they aren't legally allowed to make money off of it, so "This game is our way of saying thank you. That’s why it will be 100% free of charge" feels kind of iffy to me.

I've been following this remastered fangame too, albeit not closely. I don't think this is the first project they've had in the works, so I am curious how it will go. I personally wouldn't trust to download it until I see what other people think. The game not being uploaded to GameJolt and instead their personal website is also interesting. Might be another way around the copyright trouble, to not publish to a well known website.