If your contractor is honest, you're lucky.

I'm not sure in the context of your post if you're suggesting most contractors are dishonest, or making a wider point.

I'm not implying anything about most contractors, or even one contractor.

I'm saying that if your contractor is honest, all is good. But if he is not, as the OP fears might be the worst possible case, then you are out of luck.

You have, whether you knew or not, committed a copyright violation, and you're the one who got caught (and the one who has equity). You will be the guy who's hangin'.

Although you can of course sue your contractor for compensation in return, chances are that you get exactly nothing out of it. The law is made for dishonest people, not for honest ones. It is very easy to escape from liability if you plan for it ahead of time and if you're unscrupulous (and with someone who sold you someone else's copyrighted work, this is practically guaranteed).

The copyright owners don't care if you have a contract with Joe Unknown, if they can successfully get a claim on your company's money, or on your private possessions if you don't have limited liability. The contract that you have will (likely) keep you out of jail, but it doesn't prevent the copyright owners from sueing you, since you're technically guilty, and you are an easy prey. Finding Joe Unknown is trouble, and there is likely less money to extort from him than from you, if any (most likely, all his money is offshore). Which is why they'll go after you.

Getting your money back from your contractor is, of course, your moral right. But your moral right isn't the same as what's realistically going to happen.