Ah yeah, I did see that topic (Levels in the structure of works) before posting this, but it is looking more directly relevant than I thought it was then.
I like your idea of being able to choose which relationships are inherited (or perhaps, which are not?). I suppose this would mean that in some sense, you’d still be replicating those relationships, but it would be in a way which doesn’t imply direct authorship of a given derivative work. I wonder though how it would handle modifications to the original work(s)?