If you assign someone else the copyright then it is just as if they wrote it themselves. You are transferring *ALL* rights. (Unless a really bad lawyer writes the contract)
Obviously if you didn't own the characters in the first place (eg - the novel was Harry Potter fanfic or used public domain characters like Robin Hood) then those characters aren't transferred to the new owners .. but everything else is.
If you want to be pedantic there are some minor differences - the date the copyright expires will still be calculated from your death .. not theirs. And moral rights can't be assigned - so the same agreement will be a waiver of the moral rights, etc ..
In most areas you will retain the 'moral right' to call yourself the 'author' of the work .. which is one of the differences between assigning copyright after the work is written and originally writing it as a work for hire. As a work for hire you never were the original author - it was always the company paying you.
That means that if you want to retain the rights to create sequels etc then you need to make darn sure that the agreement explicitly says so.
If you have expectations that you will retain certain rights then it is only fair to both parties that you make sure that the agreement clearly lists them.
Good luck,
Mac
Obviously if you didn't own the characters in the first place (eg - the novel was Harry Potter fanfic or used public domain characters like Robin Hood) then those characters aren't transferred to the new owners .. but everything else is.
If you want to be pedantic there are some minor differences - the date the copyright expires will still be calculated from your death .. not theirs. And moral rights can't be assigned - so the same agreement will be a waiver of the moral rights, etc ..
In most areas you will retain the 'moral right' to call yourself the 'author' of the work .. which is one of the differences between assigning copyright after the work is written and originally writing it as a work for hire. As a work for hire you never were the original author - it was always the company paying you.
If you imagine that contract treats the new owner as the original 'author' and you as a stranger ... then you won't go too far wrong.
That means that if you want to retain the rights to create sequels etc then you need to make darn sure that the agreement explicitly says so.
If you have expectations that you will retain certain rights then it is only fair to both parties that you make sure that the agreement clearly lists them.
Good luck,
Mac