The Renegade Writer Blog

Susan asks, “I have some articles that I wrote early in my freelance career before I was concerned with First North American rights and contracts and all. The editor and I had an informal agreement and never signed a contract (he sent me a check without my even having to remind him or send an invoice - what a novelty!), but the bottom of my web articles say copyright XX Magazine. Can they do that? Should I have asked for more money or to retain my own copyright? Second, I just met with a source for an article that was assigned to me by the editor of a local magazine. I think the topic has legs, but I’m wondering if it’s appropriate for me to shop the idea around in the same market. Even though I haven’t signed an exclusivity agreement, will it jeopardize my relationship with that editor if she sees an article on with a different slant but the same source with my byline in a competing magazine? How much time should I allow before querying elsewhere? Would I need to get completely separate quotes? How much overlap is allowed in these situations? Thanks for all your great advice!”

I’m no attorney, but my understanding is when there’s no contract, you grant the magazine the one-time right to print your article for the fee you agreed upon. Moreover, you own what you write unless you specifically sign your copyright away. The magazine cannot come back to you and say, “Oh Susan, didn’t you understand? We were buying all the rights to your article.” (They’ll try to pat you on the head and tell you to run along if you let them.) Many publishers are as in the dark about rights as writers are, which is why smart publishers often send multi-page contracts outlining exactly what rights they want from their writers … which usually amounts to every right under the sun. :-/

One thing I need clarified: did you write the article specifically for their site, or are they repurposing your article from their print magazine for the web? If it’s the first case, then they do have the right to post it and in the second case, they do not. As for the copyright symbol, I’m also not clear, without seeing the article, if they’re using the symbol on your article or for the actual magazine, which they can copyright. So do send me a link and I’ll see if I can get someone who knows this stuff cold to sort this out and give you an accurate answer. (Any attorneys lurking, please feel free to offer advice in the comments!)

And yes, it’s always a smart move to ask for more money if you’re signing all rights away, especially if you’re diligent about resales. Many writers I know make many thousands of dollars per year reselling their work, so selling all rights significantly reduces their ability to earn money. They either don’t sign all-rights contracts, or negotiate rates that make signing worthwhile to them. The bottom line is it never hurts to ask for more dinero.

On your second question, the technical answer is if you don’t have an exclusivity contract, then you can slant away on any topic, whether your editor introduced you to the source or not. You use different quotes, and write a completely different story. There’s a touchy-feely issue here, though: editors can get pretty prickly about their competition. While you technically have every right to sell to their direct competitor, really think hard about this one. Is there any way you can reslant this for a market that doesn’t compete with your original one? How do you think your editor will react if she sees your byline in the other paper under a story she brought to you? It’s a really wiggly, no-clear-cut situation, and one I’d ponder and mull over carefully. HTH!

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