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According to U.S. business law, when contract terms are omitted (or a written contract is not present) the industry standard is generally applied to any given situation when a dispute arises. For example, if you sell beef, and you have a contract with someone to provide them with 100 pounds of beef per month, but do not include a price for the beef, it is assumed the person will pay you the standard (fair market) price for beef. If you neglect to put a term of delivery, then you are expected to deliver the beef within an amount of time that beef is typically delivered in.

This often works in conjunction with the concept of an implied contract, wherein behavior and standards can create a contract between individuals without words being spoken or written on paper. This happens all the time. You might walk into any old barber, sit in a chair, and then hand the barber a $20 bill. No explicit offer was made that the barber would cut your hair. But the act of walking in and sitting on the chair is behavior implying that you want a haircut and will offer a reasonable sum for one. Implied contracts are just as valid as any other kind.

So, in the case of musicians recording for a demo, the question is not whether there is an implied contract - there is - but rather whether or not the industry standard is when it comes to them getting rights.

I don't know anything about demo recording, so I don't know the answer for certain. However, when it comes to studio musicians in general, the standard is that they are work for hire, so I can't imagine it would be any different because they're recording for a demo.