Reusing Material from WMFH Assignments

Some discussion on a writers' board centered on what degree of change was enough so that you could sell a piece originally sold under a WMFH contract, and then if the publication went out of business, did the rights return to the author, even if written under WMFH.

On the first question, I'd personally be wary of including ANY of the material written as-is under a WMFH contract in any other piece. Under such an agreement, the publisher owns copyright and could sue you for using "its" material. You would need to toss the entire piece and start from scratch, although the information in your notes would be available (assuming you didn't sign those away, as some contracts require), and the quotes actually belong to the people you interviewed (it's best to ask if they mind being included in another piece, so you extend the implicit permission you had in the first place). But to take even some of the sentences? Not only would you be looking to lose in court, but you'd involve the second publisher and instead of burning a bridge, you'd reduce it to its constituent atomic parts.

On the second question, unless there is a clause specifically stating that you would get rights back in case the company went out of business - and I've yet to see a clause like that in all the contracts I've reviewed - then, no, you don't get anything back. If you sold your car to someone who then died without any living heirs, would you automatically get the car back? No, because you sold the property and no longer have a claim on it. It's the same with WMFH - you sell the intellectual property and no longer have any claim on it or any right to it.