REPRINT RIGHTS

Q. I wrote an article on assignment for a magazine. They have already published the piece, so am I now open to selling reprint rights to different magazines?

A. I am assuming that you signed some kind of contract with the first publisher at the time you accepted the assignment. If that is true, then that contract will likely tell you what rights they purchased, plus spelling out any restrictions they might have on reprints. If you sold all rights, the article now belongs to them, and you are not free to do anything with it without their permission. If you think there are additional markets that might be interested in reprinting it, you can contact the original publisher and ask them if they will release the rights to you so you can sell it as a reprint. If they grant you that right, it may be with the stipulation that the reprint publishers carry it with the original publisher's credit line (which they will supply for you). If you sold them only first or one-time rights, you can go ahead and sell reprint rights (unless the contract you signed says otherwise).