"Oh, you need to sign over the copyright to us so we can legally make and distribute copies." I think that's approximately the line of bullshit they give. No, by default creators own their copyright and can license that on terms they allow. Once you sign that over it's just not your material anymore.
That's what Daft Punk did in 1997: "The deal they struck with Virgin at the outset of their career - essentially licensing music to Virgin from their own company, Daft Trax - was pioneering." [0]
