[hansvm]

> As far as I can tell, the firmware was produced as part of the agreement between DEFCON and Entropic, in which case there shouldn’t be much question about the license as it’s a work for hire.

The default state of things is that the author owns the code, regardless of any contracts between Entropic and DEFCON. He may or may not have signed those rights away, but if his other assertions are true (that he wasn't anyone's employee or contractor) then I'd be mildly surprised if the right legal structures were in place to ensure DEFCON owned the code.

That's an issue when writing code for hire too (or, e.g., hiring a photographer). If you're not careful, you don't have very many rights with respect to the final product, even after paying somebody to write it for you.

Implied, limited, non-exclusive licenses are a thing, and I wouldn't be terribly shocked if (assuming a judge had to decide) all parties aren't at least allowed to continue distributing the badges (perhaps not to redistribute the firmware itself, modify the firmware, ...). Things get murky in a hurry though, and finding a resolution not requiring a court is probably better for all parties.