Wendi Fryman Real Estate

A few years ago I worked for an American company, I am in the UK. The job was writing articles for this company for $10 per article. At the beginning the company stated in the email, " finally, we want to make it clear that the articles you write for and submit to us will become our property, you will not be permitted to distribute or sell the articles elsewhere." There was no signed contract, just this email. Would this be legally binding and could action be taken by this company if now three years later I used these articles again myself.