If it is forbidden to apply things you have learned about other cultures in creative ways, why bother learning about them in the first place?
<darkhumor> {grimHumor} Creative are the ways used to portray the enemies of a nation to stir up the populace to war. {/grimHumor}</darkhumor>
Anecdote: A modern country years ago contained a business that exactly copied "Snow White and the Seven Dwarves" and just gave them different names. Disney at least was understandably concerned about this.
Comment: It could be argued that there are analogies to long-established legal principles regarding how, when, and under what conditions intellectual, cultural, ephemeral or other "properties" might acceptably--by those who subscribe to the notion of the advantages of legal (and moral) societies--be used by others for fair and even commercial purposes.
Since the legal principles are extensive and nuanced, how can we do less justice to the concept of human opinions regarding what may "appropriately" be done to and with other people's dress, language, myths, history, festivals, etc.
Anecdote: Some citizens of some less (militarily) powerful nations are concerned when businesses in powerful nations come and take their natural/scarce/unique (bio) resources for massively lucrative products without providing any compensation whatsoever.
Comment: Consider "knock-offs" of video games, songs and books. "Candy Crush vs. CandySwipe" "A very old song whose trumpet melody sounds amazingly similar to the Star Wars theme" And consider whether the author of the "Harry Potter" series would be interested in how closely other "creative" expressions borrowed themes--or more concernedly--exact textual descriptions of magic and creatures.
Since the real world has many force-backed and consequence-ridden examples of how presentations of fiction and reality can be used--creatively or otherwise, and for what length of time--it could be useful to reference those when forming opinions about how much creativity would be "acceptable" to the modern, morally conscious community regarding the use of any culture's clearly and uniquely representative expression.
When one successfully navigates all of that--by all means write and produce anew. After all, we "stand upon the shoulders of giants who came before" and nobody wants to "reinvent the wheel".
And personally: learning about ancient and modern cultures is an experiential and pleasurable feast that--as with virtual resources whose use does not diminish the original--may be enjoyed repeatedly and by others concurrently regardless of whether I may desire or be allowed to closely and creatively adapt their presentations of self and culture, or whether I may be inspired to create something significantly different which nevertheless owes thanks and attribution to the source.