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Thomas-Rasset's attorney, Kiwi Camara, said he was "very surprised" by the size of the verdict and signaled a willingness to talk about a possible settlement with the labels. But Camara also listed a number of potential issues to appeal should the parties be unable to resolve the case, including a challenge to the labels' ownership of the copyrights at issue based on the argument that they were improperly classified as "works made for hire" in contravention of the Copyright Act of 1976.
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for years the record companies have been basically fronting the money for an album to the artist and taking back all that money from the 10% of the royalties that artist gets.
Not exactly the employee/employer relationship that assigns the copyright to the employer.
By default the copyright should be retained by the artist.
If that arguement wins, the record companies will lose their catalog rights, and the artist will get them back.
I hate to say it but i think this lawsuit would be the best thing that could happen for the artist.
of course how many artist would publically say i support sueing my fans after seeing what kind of backlash happens when you do that (see metalica)