Quite often a startup, or any company, for that matter, will hire an independent contractor to create something for them. This might be a web designer hired to design a web page, an artist hired to design artwork for product containers, a software engineer hired to create software. You naturally think that since you hired this person to do this job for money, that when the job is done and they get paid, that you own the work. Copyright law doesn't work that way.
The creator of the work, if they are an independent contractor, owns the copyright until they assign the ownership of the copyright to you. The moral of the story is this: have the artist agree in writing to assign the copyright as part of the job, and as a condition for payment. If he won't sign it, get another artist.
Rodney D. Ryder
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