Looking ahead...

[Marc Joan]

...Not morbid, just realistic. It comes to us all. Neil Gaiman has suggested that writers should be explicit about who gets the rights to their works after they submit themselves to the final Rejection or Acceptance decision (at the Pearly Gates), and has kindly provided a suggested proforma will here: http://journal.neilgaiman.com/2006/10/important-and-pass-it-on.html

 

[Alistair Roberts]

Yes, a good point.

 

[Jason Byrne]

HP Lovecraft went into the public domain in 2007, but no one is quite sure whether anyone would retain the rights to his IP. As far as anyone knows there isn't, but it's not certain. These are the kind of situations that can be avoided.

I've saved the document provided in the link in the article, and will definitely be taking a close look at it.

I wrote a little message on the back of the idea notebook I carry in the jacket pocket: "you could die tomorrow and none of this will ever be published. Write faster."

 

[Marc Joan]

That's the worry isn't it...
Must get back to writing now!