Borrowing!

    Does anyone else read the fine print in the very first pages of a novel? The ones that show the publishing house and the  book's subgenres and the legal stuff? It's pretty interesting; particularly when there's a short, short, short summary of the book (you know, the kind a writer finds impossible to write for their own story!). There's also another interesting few sentences near the bottom. It's a disclaimer of sorts which states that none of the characters, settings, and events in the story are actually real. That they're completely, totally, utterly fictional.
    That kind of makes one wonder about the characters that are based off real people. Not copy-and-pasted, of course, but inspired by persons in the real world. A lot of published authors are said to have written characters slightly based off friends, family members, and other people they knew. Alice Liddell, Tom Sawyer, Sherlock Holmes, and even Iron Man supposedly had real-life counterparts that at least partially inspired them.
    Hearing the stories about these people is cool, and it's also awesome when one considers how their own acquaintances might have been inspirations for their characters. It's not an uncommon practice for any writer to do that. "Borrowing" little things from the real world and putting them into a story. As long as it's not too much, little things taken from real life can make a character more three-dimensional, and bring hilarious and believable incidents into scenes.
    Physical appearances, for example, can be borrowed from real life. Not just hair or eyes or even a sort of smile, but a certain outfit can be too awesome to not give to a character.
    Habits too, like snapping one's fingers to every song they hear, or straightening books in a room (but nothing else). It can add so much flavor to a character.
    And names! Haven't you ever met a person with an incredibly awesome name that you just want to use for a main character? Not their whole name, of course, but a first name, surname, or middle name.
    One of the best parts about borrowing is that when you've experienced/seen/have the characteristics, you can write about them easier and more accurately. Plus, a lot of people would be excited about seeing some of their own words/actions in an awesome story.
    But there is a dark side to this sort of thing. There's a law that allows someone to sue for libel if a fictional character bears a little too much resemblance to them (often in an unflattering way). And then there's the matter of hurting feelings. The teacher who was supposedly the inspiration for Severus Snape in the Harry Potter series was said to have been really dismayed when he found out. Nobody likes to have their negative characteristics and flaws splattered out in print.
    So yeah, borrowing should be done with consideration of others' feelings, and perhaps permission prior to writing. But with that consideration and permission, borrowing is a really cool writing technique!
    Have you ever written a character inspired by someone you know? When you think about the character, do you think about the real life person? Or when you see the person, do you immediately think of the character?