Law and ethics
Copyright
The legal right of a creator to control the use of their work, which a freelancer sells or licenses to publishers.
Copyright is what a writer actually owns and sells. When you license a piece to a publication you can sell it once or many times, hand over every right or only first publication, and the difference is real money. Know what you are selling before you sign. It runs the other way too: lifting someone else's words, photographs or music can land you in court.