I wonder what the legal side of that is if you design something and this happens. If your contract states what happens that is one thing, but if you have no clause regarding the question... Certainly it seem like the designer should be given back the rights but that doesn't mean that that is how the legal system works. Also if the company has debts that IP might be seen as an asset. The easy thing might be to buy it even if it is for a low or nominal cost.

I think they should stay buried... "types best forgot" as Robert Norton once said.

@Sii
If you're a person who relies upon new commissions for work, I can see your viewpoint making sense. Gotta keep the supply/demand ratio in your favor.

But as a type lover, for the love of the fonts, wouldn't you at least like to see some of the more elegant typefaces reach the public?

Also, as Eben discussed, it would be nice if the designer had an option to make an additional return on their design.

A lot depends on the specific arrangement between founder and client, and as we've found, between the bankruptcy court and the bankrupt's vendors. I would say the odds of anything good 'hitting the waste bin" as being pretty slim and anything good staying there as extra thin compressed. :)

Cheers!

I would think that typeface commissions have enough clauses to supply Hollywood with at least another century's worth of bad Christmas movies :)