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A lot of people here truly need to get a copy of the copyright law and read it. So much of what is said is stuff that is commonly belived but completely false.
Take the example of the original Napster, they thought they were legal and I laughed my ass off when I heard them say that. They simply did not read the law and chosed to believe folk law.
About the debate about who owns the design?
I can tell you this; if a client defaces a design after he has paid for it the designer can sue in any court and win with ease.
You can't "do what ever you want" with it; there are limits.
If the client uses the design in a way to defame the designer they can actually face criminal charges in the state of New York.
See part of the mis-understanding here is that you can't really buy a design; you can buy an exclusive right to use the design and you can buy the copyright to the design from the designer. So if you really want to cover your ass you should be telling the designer that you are buying the copyright to the design that he delivered, which I agree is almost non-sense because what designer is stupid enough to ruin their rep buy claiming a right to the work he sold you? It'll never happen unless you make a T-shirt out of it that sales millions and the designer is a resentful looser of a bastard. But in that case you would be in a bad spot so if going to court choose a jury trail because the judge will just fuck you up because you didn't secure a copyright. If you want to "do whatever you want" with it then you better state in your contract that you are buying the copyright.
If that make no sense to you then try this: Buy a painting from a famous artist then "do what ever you want" like print posters and sell them and see how long before you get fucked up for copyright violation. All you bought was the work; not the rights to the work. Motherfuckers who don't understand that always end up in court crying.
This is what lawyers are for. The law is complicated and most here don't truly understand it. I know a little more than average because of legal hurdles I has faced before but I am still no expert so if you think you really know the law in and out you're probably just suffering from a big ego.
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