Responsibility: It's OK to copy. Right?

It's a little-known fact that when a person clicks send on a mass email, they have the sole responsibility of that email. Yup, you, the guy that casually clicks the red/green/blue button that says "send now" have opened yourself up to a gluttony of potential issues.

The legalities aren't always clear, and you don't always have Keith Norris (The Marketing Association's venerable arbiter of Marketing Justice) on hand to clear up matters.

To give you some quick rules of thumb ask yourself these questions:

- Have my recipients opted in to receive this message?

There are plenty of databases you can buy that "sell" themselves as being very valuable to you, but the fact of the matter is that unsolicited messages are spam, and are against the law.

- Is my message relevant to my audience, based on the information I have about them?

If your audience has opted in to receive emails about Apples, and only Apples, and you send them a newsletter on Orange groves, well buddy, that's not fun for anyone, is it?

- Is my data clean?

Yeah ok, this question is a bit rough, we know the answer for most of you is likely "yeah... mostly? We hope." And that is a start. There are services, such as our own name suppression and deaths list service that can help you to keep your data as clean as possible. The quality of your data only increases in importance the larger that your database gets. It's your responsibility, to the best of your knowledge, to know that your email is being delivered to the right people

But it's not just the data, What about the content?

Here are some simple pointers:

- Hyperbolic language is fun! It's the best thing that has ever existed on all of the planet earth, ever, forever and ever.

- Unsubstantiated claims are not. It's the one thing the Queen of England hates the most, wait... no, It's probably the one thing the Queen hates the most. Make your intent clear.

- Just because you found it on the internet doesn't mean it's free to use. Even Meme's have creators and IP rights. Use stock images or create your own, save yourself needless legal issues.

- The Taste factor, what may be funny to you, may not be funny to everyone. Believe me, I've bombed many an open mic comedy set in a back street London pub. Run your material past a few other eyes before you run with it.

Here are some mistakes I've done. DON'T DO WHAT I'VE DONE

- Don't pin your campaign on using the lyrics of a pop song from the late 2000's. Lyrics are subject to copyright, even if you're doing a hilarious subversion leading to an incredibly well-crafted joke. The said artist's representation will get in touch and tell you "you're doing a bad thing". Arguing parody and satire sometimes isn't worth it, especially when the content is in a sales pitch.

- Also, don't use a .gif from said video of the said pop song to illustrate your messaging. Yes, .gifs do feel like amorphous internet ephemera which is owned by the collective online world, but it's not! It's material that is copyrighted and 3 seconds of looped footage of a pop starlet is their IP! .Gifs are stealing the livelihoods of the rich and famous.

- Don't use any images you didn't pay for. Use stock photography sites, or source your own material for anything and everything! EVERYTHING. There are loads of free sources out there as well as paid ones, so no excuses. Don't get lazy and grab any old image from the internet, just because it's there, and it's. So. Easy.

Everyone will make mistakes and that's how we learn. The best thing to do, if you do mess up, is own it and do whatever you can to make amends. Luckily, New Zealand's culture is far less litigious and damage can be contained. But the safest way to not make these mistakes is by knowing the law in the first place.

Certain elements can appear grey, but in those cases: IF THERE IS ANY DOUBT LEAVE IT OUT. Great advice always rhymes. If you want to reference something with an image, but can't afford it, or aren't allowed to, take a sidestep. Do you want to represent Trump? Use a kumara or a pumpkin. Eminem? Multi-coloured hard-shelled chocolates. Katy Perry? Fireworks, cats, and cupcakes.