As far as I know, 3d scanning is not a matter of just pushing a button on a device, whereas a photo can be, so the presumption ought to be that the former involves more creativity than the simplest example of the latter.
I would say they are definitely not orthogonal. Things that aren't automated and aren't easy (and some that are easy) require choosing from a near-infinite number of alternatives in a way that can't be or hasn't been defined in a mechanistic way. If I claim that seems like a reasonable definition of creativity, what do you think is missing from it?
It's a question of expression vs reproduction. A 3d scan copies the object being scanned, without interpretation or (intentional) embellishment. It's the same with photographs taken for documentation purposes. The skill required doesn't matter.
It's not always clear-cut, there's usually going to be a bit of both sides. There's the whole idea of derived works, where the changes you've made are yours but the work as a whole is also entangled in the copyright of the original. But the more the new work is (meant to be) a faithful reproduction, the more it's "just" a copy and not a new riff. Again, it's about the intention and the difference in content between old and new, not so much about how much work or skill was required.
I'm not experienced in creating complex 3D models, but my passing acquaintance with such things (including trying to write a program to convert points to a mesh once) makes me think the claim there is no interpretation or more than one way to create a model of an object is absurd. This seems like an extreme example of assuming something you haven't done is trivial.
Another separate point, supposing for the sake of argument 3D models are not creative... It is well known that, say, a "white pages" style phone directory was ruled not to be copyrightable. But does that mean it is a copyright violation?
It's not about how easy it is, or how many ways there are to do the thing. The point of a 3d scan is to reproduce the facts of the object being scanned: there's this surface at this position with this normal, another one there with these properties, etc. Choices to be made might trade accuracy for less cost (in time and/or money), but those choices don't change the fact that the scan's purpose and value rest in the facts being recorded. It's like the quake fast inverse square root vs the pedestrian n => 1/sqrt(n), the skill in writing fast inverse square root doesn't imbue the result of its evaluation with any of that.
WRT your second paragraph, I'm not sure I understand. How could there be a copyright violation on something that can't be copyrighted?
Ok, if the facts that are used to make a phone directory can't be copyrighted, then why would the facts that are used to make a 3D scan be copyrightable?
I mean, nobody other than the scanner chose or wrote down all those numbers. The creator of the object made an object. Seems like the same distinction to me as a house vs. its phone number and address which locate it.