It looks like Meshworks did indeed sue for breech of contract (Toyota used the meshes in ways not allowed by their contract) but lost because of the copyright issue. Still, if someone like Toyota ever contracted me for this kind of work, I'd be walking into it knowing there would be no way in hell that I could ever "own" this work, and I would definitely charge accordingly. Much as I love Meshwork's stuff, this was just brain dead stupid on their part.

The judge made a good point that, at one point in time, a photo was considered uncopyrightable, and it's a matter of getting our laws up to date. IMHO, he wasnt so much dismissing Meshwork's case as he was saying that, under current copyright law, there wasnt much he could do.

docandraider.com -- the collected cartoons of Doc and Raider