Canadian serial vs North American serial rights

[ybest]

Hey y'all. I think I'm right, but I just want to make sure.

I want to publish a story in a magazine that buys "First rights" and "Canadian serial"

Later I can sell my "First North American serial rights" to another magazine.

Am I correct that I can do this?

On a side note, lets say I pull this off; would the North American magazine consider it a reprint if it was published in Canada? Do I have to tell them? Is it a big deal?

[Jamesaritchie]

Yes, it's a reprint if it has been published in Canada, and yes, you have to tell them. If, that is, you ever want to do business with them again. Honesty is not only the best policy, it's the only safe policy. Word gets around, and it's a horriffically bad and stupid idea to lie to editors, or to refrain from telling the truth. It'll come back and bite you every time.

As for just what rights you can sell, this depends totally on the particular magazine. It depends on how the editors feels about previous magazines something has been published in, how widely the magazine is distributed, and several other factors. It's always the editor's decision. But generally speaking, once a story has been published, all first rights are gone, and should be.

But worry first about actually selling something once. Then you can worry about secondary rights.

[ybest]

Thank you for informing me about the rights. It wasn't intending on lying or being deceitful- if I didn't want to know what was appropriate I wouldn't have asked I would have just lied.

[pdr]

Canadian and 1st North American rights are tricky! I understand that the magazine you are selling to is American and wants to buy 1st American and Canadian rights? If this is so then it is the same as selling your 1st North American rights which cover both the USA and Canada. If you then go on to send your story to other Canadian or US magazines you can only sell 2nd or reprint rights.

To get around this I always sell my 1st Canadian rights to a Canadian magazine before offering my story to the USA with 1st USA rights. Canadian editors are very flexible and will allow this, buying only 1st Canadian Serial Rights whereas the American editors I have dealt with are not and try always to buy 1st North American rights rather than 1st USA rights - even if their magazine is not sold over the border!