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Most creative writers are so eager to sell their work that they don't stop to consider what rights they are selling. The word "Rights" indicates how the buyer can use your work. "Rights" does not refer to anything pertaining to your copyright or what you can get paid for your document.
If you want to offer the most common rights (highly advisable), offer FNASR, or First North American Serial Rights. The author grants the magazine permission to publish his work one time in North America and the the rights to it revert back to him. If you offer this type of rights, place "Offering First North American Serial Rights" in the top corner of the document, on the left side.
One Time Serial Rights - If you are offering the rights for simultaneous submissions, put "One Time Serial Rights" in the top, left corner. This means the first buyer can publish your work just one time.
Second Serial Rights - If you have sold your story before, you will be offering Second Serial Rights. This means they will be able to publish your work only once.
All Rights - Shudder at the sight of these rights unless you understand this from the beginning. It means you are selling all rights to the purchaser. You won't be able to publish, copy, transfer or sell that work again. You have no rights whatsoever left.
· Work for Hire - This is another "right" that you should shiver at. There are only two ways that Work for Hire can exist: Your employer pays you a wage and you create something at work (in which case, it belongs to him), or you act as an independent contractor and you're selling your rights.
Non-Exclusive Rights is another undesirable. The rights will revert back to you in a year and you will be able to market it again, but the original buyer can continue using the work and reproducing it in syndication without splitting profits with you.
Exclusive Rights - You are giving the farm away if you sign up under these rights. Places like Associated Content assume full rights over articles they purchase. The rights go to them and never revert back to you. Your document is gone. Ker-plunk! Down the toilet.
· One-time rights - You can sell one time rights simultaneously to as many people as you want. This is a common way to sell articles to multiple markets.
Some of these rights have only a whisker of difference between them. Guard this article with your life and don't sign anything unless you refer to it!
These are the most prominent ones, but there is a large variety of rights.
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