Sign away all future rights to your work by June 15, says a cover letter, or else.
Freelance writers get none of the benefits of regular employment.
They should never be forced to hand over ownership of their work to a publisher. The Times, which owns the two dominant papers in the Northeast, is trying to use its market muscle to impose an unconscionable contract on freelance writers in both newsrooms. I feel sorry for the Globe's readers, because the better writers will refuse to be bullied into swallowing that kind of treatment. Someone must be signing them. Magazines continue to offer contracts demanding all rights to freelancers they think may be foolish enough to sign, holding a less onerous version in the wings in case the writer balks.