Legal Question in Intellectual Property in Maryland

The key question is who owns the copyright. If the author was an employee at the time the articles were written, then the company will argue that they were "works made for hire" in which it owns the copyright. Otherwise, if the authors would appear to be the copyright owners, based on your description. It would make sense to register the articles with the Copyright Office, http://www.copyright.gov/eco/ (assuming that the article is worth the $35 registration fee). That will put the copyright owner in a stronger position to assert the rights, because registration is a prerequisite to a lawsuit. I suggest that the copyright owner do that immediately, even before consulting an attorney.