Practically or legally speaking there isn’t a restriction of creativity. Its a restriction on the ability to profit from that creativity or negatively affect the profits of the rights holder with your work using their name.
Would that this were true, but if you disseminate work that contains a copyright violation, the copyright holder can absolutely come after you for copyright infringement, regardless of whether you gave your work away for free. Damages are based not on your profit but on an estimate of lost profit on the part of the copyright holder. For instance, if you make your own great Mario game and everyone plays it for free, Nintendo can expect to sell fewer games.
The only way to ensure you won’t run afoul of copyright laws when using unlicensed protected material (outside of fair use) is if you keep your work private. Not because it’s allowed, but because they can’t punish you if they don’t know you broke the rule.
It does, sure. It helps to understand that the debt is separate from the property, same as if you borrowed $20 for lunch—it feels a lot different from your friend buying you lunch, but it doesn’t feel like your friend owns your lunch until you repay them, either.
With real estate especially, once the property begins to require your attention and money, you begin to feel that ownership more acutely. The bank has no idea when the gutters need to be cleared or there’s a drainage issue. They’re concerned only with the loan.