[gizmo686]

> there shouldn’t be much question about the license as it’s a work for hire.

Work for hire is about employees. Entropic is not an employee of DEFCON, it is a company with a contractual agreement to provide something in exchange for money. The details of when, if ever, IP rights are transferred to DEFCON should be spelled out in the contract. I have seen all sorts of arrangements for that. However, in a well drafted contract, IP ownership probably wouldn't transfer prior to payment.

Also, the firmware author isn't an employee of anyone. In a lawyerly world, that would be resolved with a clear copyright assignment or license, but I have no idea if that happened.