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02/27/2006: "Keep the Rights to Your Copy --- You May Need them Sometime."

Many copywriters allow a client to pay half upfront and the balance on delivery. While that's fine if you're dealing with Fortune 1000 companies or firms you know about, it's not a good idea on the Internet. I always charge my full fee in advance and it's served me well for over a decade.

But there are times when a client will stiff you by a credit card charge back or some other method. That happened to me one time.

So what do you do in these cases? Well, I've outlined some things you can do in previous posts so I won't repeat them here. But one other course is to resell the copy you wrote for the bad client.

Most people, including some copywriters, do not know that the copywriter always owns the copyright to all copy he or she writes unless he transfers it in writing to the client. The only exception to that is if the copywriter is writing for a company as as employee. In that case, his employer owns the rights. (Ask your attorney about this before you take my word. Laws may differ in different states.)

But here we're talking about freelance copywriters. You own everything you write forever! (Again, there are exceptions. Check with your lawyer. Know what rights you sell.) So when a client stiffs you, you're free to resell the copy in most cases unless you've sold or given away your rights. You can redo the copy to fit it to the needs of the new client or sell it as is explaining to the new client what's happened.

If the bad client uses the copy, he's probably breaking the law. He's using your copy and that's against copyright law. You can take him to court if you like. But he has no rights whatsoever to that copy unless you were foolish enough to transfer rights to him or if you signed a Work for Hire agreement, which is never in the interest of the copywriter.

There are times when it's fine to transfer rights to a client. If you trust the client and you are paid well for your work, it's fine. But your work is a creation of your mind. You own it. Be very careful what you do with it and who you allow to own it if you choose to transfer it.

Your copy is yours. You work hard to create it. So use it for all it's worth.