[roywiggins]

Probably portable 3D scanners makes it easier, but facsimile art isn't new at all. The V&A museum in London has a huge set of Victorian-era plaster casts of EVERYTHING: http://www.vam.ac.uk/page/c/cast-courts/

There's a whole industry of manuscript fascimiles: http://www.facsimilefinder.com/

[Turing_Machine]

Yes, people have been making facsimiles for a long time. The Spurlock Museum in Urbana, IL has a set of copies of the Elgin Marbles, for instance.

[justincormack]

Yes, was about to say the same, the Convention for Promoting Universal Reproductions of Works of Art was in 1867. 3D printing of sculptures is hardly new...