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Another thing that can get you into trouble is running an ad with a picture of a person in it who didn't give you permission to use their face.

I remember selling advertising many years ago and one of my hair studios gave me a picture of Joan Collins, who was currently starring in Dynasty, that the advertiser had cut out of a magazine. The advertiser wanted to show that she could duplicate that hairstyle.

Let's forget for a minute that using artwork cut out of a magazine doesn't give you the best reproduction since it's already in a dot pattern.

The problem is that Joan Collins didn't give this hair stylist permission to use her face in the ad. Now the odds are pretty low that Joan Collins would ever see the ad, but let me give you another example. It's very common to have people walk into a newspaper to place a happy birthday ad for a family member or friend.

On one such occasion, I helped a woman who walked in with a picture of her husband and together we put together a small ad with the headline "Lordy lordy, look who's forty". On the day that the ad ran, the husband, or as I found out, the ex-husband, called the newspaper and was extremely upset. It turned out that they had just been through a messy divorce and he was also having a lot of trouble dealing with the fact that he was turning 40. The ex-husband could have easily sued the newspaper (and his ex-wife) for publishing his picture in an ad without his permission.

Lucky for me he didn't and I kept my job. What you need in a case like this is what's called a model release form. Your newspaper probably has pads of them around, and it must be signed by the person in the picture or, if they're underage, the guardian.

Again, check with your manager on this. An exception to this rule might be when the photos of people are part of a promotional piece or brochure that an advertiser has given you to use for artwork. Check with your manager if you're in doubt.

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