Can I copyright this?

Question

I designed a graphic based on a local high school's mascot. There are many versions of this animals head on tshirts, signs, stickers and so on. The way I did it is completely different from what anyone else has seen and it is becoming kind of popular. I painted it on a fence for a local sports bar. There has however always been a thing about t shirt shops, and the like, in the area stealing ideas from one another and so on. Simply put, is it possible to get a registered copyright for a design that is based on an existing idea (this particular animal not someone else's design) or does it fall into a General usage type of category? There is no text associated with the design that states the school name...for now it's just a picture of this mascot/ animal.

Answer 1

If its your own art that you've created, whether it was based on an existing image (as long as it doesn't copy it exactly), then you can copyright it, and so it belongs to you and you can do whatever you want with it. In this case, you're allowing the school to use it for advertisment purposes and whatnot.

Answer 2

ask a lawyer.  it must be somewhat different from the mascot, or else the high school owns the copyright. not sure how much different it should be though