Copyright question

[Catowl]

Hi, I hope this is the correct place to ask his, I Googled and found here, and it seemed a knowledgeable and friendly place.

Firstly, I'm not a writer, but, I have come up with a fantasy creature, with a backstory, and maybe one day I might make up stories about them for my grandchildren, but before even contemplating it, I want to make sure I wouldn't fall into some minefield of copyright.

The creatures are cat and owl hybrids, like a griffin, but a combination of a domestic cat and an owl. There are various types, based on a combination of various cat and owl breeds, bringing in various personalities based on those breeds.

The back story, as you might have guessed by now is based on the children's poem, written by Edward Lear, the owl and the pussycat. The idea is that the reason they were sailing for the year and a day was because their cross species love was frowned upon by anywhere they tried to settle, they were hated, ostracised, and chased away. So, when they were accepted in the land where the Bong tree grew, they settled down, and had a family.

The first generation were a mixture, of various cat and owl body parts, some viable, others not. The ones that grew and survived paired up with cats and owls living on the island. And eventually evolved into a stable body form, with a cats body, and owl head and wings. The tail is a cat tail of various length, with a cluster of feathers at the end.

So, with these creatures having a root in an existing poem, would I have issues with copyright if I ever did suddenly get inspiration to write about them?

I did try to start writing, but could only think of a political idea about the youngsters suddenly rising against the elders about the issue of never leaving the island due to their fore parents treatment in the world. But didn't get very far, as I've no writing experience or training, and not really very political. I think I need a lighter angle, aimed more at children. Lol

Thanks in advance for any feedback.

[PeterL]

One copyrights words, expressions of ideas, not the ideas themselves. You drew inspiration from certain piece of literature. Writers are often inspired by earlier literature. You have nothing at all to worry about on copyright, but you should start writing some of the stories begore you lose interst. How do you explain the genetics?

[Catowl]

Ahh, the genetics is lead by the magic/fantasy that allows the animals to talk in the first place. :P

The cat was the female in the poem, so she'd have live births, no eggs. The Catowls (and I'm trying to think up a name for them that's a bit more imaginative), having feline bodies will also have live births.

Maybe I'll just come up with some short tales to help myself to develop them more as characters. I know my grammar isn't great, but if just for my young grandchildren, they probably wouldn't notice that too much. Lol

Thank you for your response.

[PeterL]

deleted

[PeterL]

Ahh, the genetics is lead by the magic/fantasy that allows the animals to talk in the first place. :P

The cat was the female in the poem, so she'd have live births, no eggs. The Catowls (and I'm trying to think up a name for them that's a bit more imaginative), having feline bodies will also have live births.

Maybe I'll just come up with some short tales to help myself to develop them more as characters. I know my grammar isn't great, but if just for my young grandchildren, they probably wouldn't notice that too much. Lol

Thank you for your response.

Just write and see what happens.

[Jassy Melson]

You don't have to worry about copyright.