[MineralMan]

""Mr. Foster owns the copyright in this article and Vanity Fair paid for the exclusive right to publish the article for a limited period of time."

I don't think that's S.O.P. for most publications, or even Vanity Fair.
"

Actually, that's the normal procedure. I've been a freelance journalist since 1974, and almost always sold just First North American Serial Rights, which is what they're talking about. I'm not writing any longer, but I wrote for several mags with circulations over 1 million. The length of time for exclusivity varied from publication to publication, but I always retained my copyright in all articles I wrote. The magazine got just first publication rights.

Incidentally, this is because of the IRS. If a publication buys all rights from a regular contributor, the IRS is pretty insistent that the writer is an employee and not a private contractor. Otherwise, the magazines would hold writers up for all rights.

[Fester Chugabrew]

"Actually, that's the normal procedure."

Okay. Thanks for the explanation. Still, I would not be surprised if one could obtain permission to post certain articles in full. I've asked permission of authors before posting their articles and they were okay with it provided proper credit was given.

Otherwise, it behooves us all to be aware before posting full articles that copyright ownership is indeed an issue.