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Re-use of material

I was recently approached by a magazine informing me that a piece I wrote for them some years ago would be included in a book, a collection of the best features that had appeared in the magazine over the past ten years. Would I please send them a 350 word bio and, if I chose, a new mugshot.

And the fee for the re-use of the original work and the new bio? Three free copies of the book and the chance to buy more at a 50% discount! It turned out that they had not bought 'All Rights' when they first commissioned the work so did not have the right to use the piece in the book without my aagreement. Would I let them use it anyway? The publishers had allowed no budget for the words. Errrr.... no - I'm trying to make a living here. It was all the more cheeky because the magazine's usual rate for words is one of the very lowest.

Two lessons:
1. Be aware of the rights you are signing away, and those you are retain, when you sign (or don't sign) a contract. In the UK at least, not signing anything carries the implication that only first rights are being sold.
2. Do not simply give in when asked to proivide work for free. You may be excluded from an attractive book - but publishers will get the message that writers will not give their work away and deserve propere recompense.

Graham Rice
Northamptonshire UK and Pennsylvania, USA

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