you keep saying that any work done for a third party on a
hired basis devolves the copyright to the third party. this
is not the case under current U.S. law as i understand it.
for a work to be a "work for hire", it needs either
to be created by an employee in the course of execution of
his official capacity, or by an independent contractor.
in
the case of an independent contractor, written agreement is
still necessary for the transfer of copyright to take place.
such work does not automatically become the property of the
client.
