Earlier quoted context omitted.
Big disclaimer that I haven’t read the article yet, and I’m definitely not a lawyer of any kind either. I would suppose that the activity you describe would become illegal if you knowingly sell the paintings to someone who intends to fraudulently pass them off as the real pieces.
I guess anyone who paints exact replicas of famous paintings and sells them for a very high price is kind of in on it. No one would pay them big money for that unless it is part of a forgery ring.
Someone who can replicate an original is undoubtedly very skilled. It's reasonable someone would pay well for a faithful replica.