I order to address earlier posts, the reason the originals were (still are) trickier to fly is because of the way they were made. Over-engineered for reliability to account for variability due to the build process, i.e. war-time, and to allow those early pilots with very little training to make a good fist of flying it, and to be able to get it back on the ground in one piece, despite having less training hours than most newly qualified PPLs these days. Current copies don't need the reinforcing for machine guns either!
From those who I've heard of who have flown both, (not many to chose from nowadays) it is clear that the 90% copy flies the way the original ones did on a good day.
Aside from the legal complexity, whether it deserves the name is down to subjective personal opinion. The current Healey 3000 "replica" has a space frame chassis, ABS brakes and reliability the original could never match. Some say it's better, (technically it is) others say it doesn't have the character of the original, which depends on your definition of character!. On the legal side, Healey have sold them the Healey Motor Company name to market it as the HMC 3000.
Same goes for Vanwall. The current replica, or reproduction, as it is called, goes faster and handles better. What upsets purists, and outrages me is that you can spec it with a Ferrari engine. The very team that Vanwall were set up to beat. And did.
Can you call the Mk26 a Spitfire, you can if it matters to you. Think of it another way, how many people call their vacuum cleaner a Hoover? Tens of thousands more then Mr. Dyson would be happy with. Less emotive, but same legal implication.
As has been written in several posts, most currently flying Spitfires have been rebuilt so many times can they genuinely be original? If they can, then are the current Hurricane copies/reproductions (100% scale and built to the same drawings and methods) more genuine than restored Spitfires, as those Hurricanes are not restored and rebuilt, but are fabricated as they were done all those years ago?
I can only imagine my old CO telling us to "buckle up and fly the darn thing" if he were still here to vent his wrath. If you've got the stick in your hand, that view out of the window, and THAT wing profile to look at, the emotive side of you really doesn't care what name it carries. If it does, you're flying for very different reasons from me.
Old Ben