To whom it may concern:

I have a question regarding copyright law and independent creation. I recently made a story (not yet published) that is a science fiction story about life on Mars in the future. Anyway, I also illustrated for it, since I'm an artist too, and made up some characters for the story (people and some creatures that I made up). The (life-like) people that I drew for my story were created by me independently; in other words, I didn't copy their faces from any living person (or from any character). Knowing how many people there are in this world (6.2 billion) and that there are also lots of characters out there, it seems so unlikely (and scarey) that I could create a character that looks completely different... even if I didn't get any ideas from anyone. I understand that there will be inherit similarities between people; no one can make a character that doesn't resemble at least one person out there. My fear, I guess, as irrational as it may seem to some people, is that how do I know if I didn't create a character who, completely by chance, looks just like or very close to an actual person out there? It would seem unlikely, but considering how many people there are, is it a risk I should consider? And if so, how do you best prepare for it or handle it when/if it happens? (changing my character around could also mean I would then risk it now looking like someone else... lol; alomst like a never ending cycle). This fear has stalled me in my story production and it's depressing because it's hard looking at my art without wondering if there isn't someone or something out there that is too similar. I've even considered never getting it published, but a friend said that I shouldn't be punished for something I made on my own, and to ask for legal advice or statistics and liklihoods of something like that actually happening (she thinks it isn't likely at all to happen). I've never copied from anyone and don't want to be facing a lawsuit for any potential coincidences. So am I barking up the wrong tree here, or is there anyone who can help me with this? I don't want to have to give up on my dreams of writing and illustrating my own works, but considering how litigous people are in the US, and how hard it is to be truly original these days anyway, it's better to be safe than sorry. Thank you for any help that anyone can provide.

Most books have a disclaimer in them that the characters are not based on a real person and that any similarities are purely coincidental. When it comes time to be published, your agent, editor and publisher will deal with this.