"You're going to have a hell of time proving your case then, aren't you?" It's the obligation of the company, not the contractor/employee, to show that it has

"You're going to have a hell of time proving your case then, aren't you?" It's the obligation of the company, not the contractor/employee, to show that it has secured the rights to the work that is included their product. If you have someone work on your product, and you don't put down in writing what their agreed upon compensation is (and/or you don't pay that compensation), you're not going to be in a good spot when someone starts doing due diligence for a financing or a sale. Not being explicit about ownership / comp before a financing deal is on the table is a recipe for heartache.