stjorthotic Chapter 56 Foreign Exchange Earnings of Hundreds of Millions of Yuan
Chapter 56 Foreign Exchange Earnings of Hundreds of Millions of Yuan
Negotiations continue.
When Zhang Fushi finally proposed the concept of how to make the most of a single opportunity by operating and distributing the product across overseas markets with full copyright, that was the moment...
Upon hearing this news, old Mark, who was already devastated, suddenly perked up.
The other four publishers, after a brief moment of disbelief, were simply shocked beyond words.
They simply couldn't imagine that the people of the East, who were considered backward and ignorant, possessed such extraordinary foresight in the field of overseas copyright management of literary works, and that they could anticipate things even before their most outrageous ideas.
They inexplicably felt that their intelligence had been crushed.
A mysterious ancient empire in the East!
The people nurtured on this land are truly remarkable!
In light of the arrival of five publishers, Zhang Fushi and his subordinates held a meeting and came up with a plan to publish and distribute overseas full-copyright books in multiple ways, which was divided into five interlocking sections.
Of course, Yu Zhen provided a lot of helpful suggestions.
The most direct and straightforward approach is through publishing and distribution in the North American book market.
This piece of meat, which has already been successfully devoured by Mark, has been designated as an S+ level section due to its high quality and ease of commercial promotion.
Markets outside of North America and mainland China, which are used for other major languages, were packaged together as a blue ocean market segment to be explored, and were classified as S-, which is one weaker level.
In addition, the global comic adaptation and global multilingual audio broadcasting rights are packaged into a separate section, which is rated A+, one level lower.
The fourth section is film and television adaptations, which was rated A-, one level lower than the previous category.
The fifth section, which puzzled all five publishers, was related to video game adaptations, exclusive distribution of computer internet information, and all future derivative copyrights related to digital electronics. Even more surprisingly, this section was rated SSS.
Of the five sections, the fifth section is the highest-rated, yet it is also the one whose commercial value is the most difficult for the five publishers to understand.
It's like a child's game, or a deliberate barrier set up to prevent others from profiting from the so-called future of internet information.
While introducing the concept of five major copyright categories, the basic principles of the "bidding" process for the five publishers were also clearly explained.
The first rule is that no single entity is allowed to monopolize any copyright section. In addition, all five sections can freely compete and have corresponding copyright operation rights.
To put it simply, never put all your eggs in one basket.
Everyone can participate and profit from it, and the happiest person in this situation of everyone sitting in a row and sharing the spoils is none other than old Mark.
Before all the other greedy rivals arrived in Shanghai, Mark Snyder actually wanted to exclusively acquire all the sequel copyrights, and he was fully prepared to offer a staggering $15 million.
But now, times have changed.
With the simultaneous appearance of the other four seasoned veterans, everyone knows that if Yu Zhen's million-word sci-fi epic is carefully managed, the market space he will likely control in the future will be at least a hundred million yuan in profit.
The subsequent negotiations lasted for three days.
The most complicated aspect is not the contract between Yu Zhen and the publisher, but the fact that the matter involves the literary and artistic industry, the relationship between the two countries, and even the copyright operations of third parties in other countries and regions.
This is an unprecedented area for both sides.
Therefore, more time and energy are actually spent on communication and exchange of relevant regulations and details between foreign affairs units and the US Consulate in Shanghai, as well as how to effectively avoid many sensitive areas.
This can be considered a model case that truly allows the two countries to break the ice in cross-border exchanges and cooperation on the cultural industry at the official level.
In fact, according to Yu Zhen's vision, the best way to operate copyrights is undoubtedly to have multiple parties jointly invest in and establish a dedicated cultural company whose business scope is to publish and distribute outstanding literary works from both countries, and even video entertainment products.
Unfortunately, the timing is wrong; it's too early. Policy easing in related areas won't happen so quickly at the moment.
Three days later, everything finally fell into place.
The signing ceremony was held solemnly in the city government compound. The atmosphere was enthusiastic, and many foreign media reporters came uninvited or after receiving the news.
In short, the ceremony was both solemn and festive.
The amount of film consumed by the reporters' cameras on site was terrifying.
Due to the confidentiality of the business cooperation, the specific details of the contract between the two parties were not directly disclosed to the public.
However, a rough contract amount is that Yu Zhen will create a sci-fi epic with a total of at least 1.5 million words in his series of sci-fi stories within the next 5 years.
It is expected to generate at least US$1.5 million in foreign exchange for the country.
The five partners each contributed a contract deposit of US$10 million, which was immediately deposited into the escrow accounts of both parties.
On the very day the contract was signed, Mark's publishing company finally settled the first phase of royalties for his two previous works, amounting to $135.5 million.
The funds have been transferred to a foreign-related corporate account in Shanghai.
Foreign media reports quickly spread extensively and prominently in newspapers in North America, Europe, and other established Western powers.
Moreover, the related news headlines were extremely exaggerated:
[Shocking! The world's first author to earn over $100 million in royalties was born in the Red East]
[Unbelievable! Five major North American publishers gathered in a mysterious ancient Eastern country, waving a staggering $150 million check, all for the chance to jointly sign a science fiction epic from that ancient land.]
What makes the science fiction stories of the Red East so extraordinary? Who is behind the scenes, creating such an incredible surge in popularity for Eastern science fiction stories with a record-breaking royalties of $150 million?
[The wisdom crystallized from 5 years of enduring civilization; even God would bow down in reverence after reading the stories of that mysterious Eastern science fiction writer]
[Breaking News! Hollywood's eight major studios have announced plans to invest heavily in a sci-fi story set in the Red East.]
Compared to the exaggerated news reports from many foreign media outlets.
Domestically, the news has remained unreleased.
Even the local Shanghai media only published a few small news items, simply revealing that Yu Da's new science fiction work had once again successfully signed a contract with a North American publisher.
Even though the media had heard rumors about the first foreign exchange payment of $135.5 million in royalties that had already been deposited into the Shanghai Municipal Government's foreign-related public account, they did not report or publicize it publicly.
There's no way around it; it's a rather awkward situation that's now blatantly presented to the Shanghai Stock Exchange officials.
Well, to be more precise, it should be placed in front of Zhong Nantang in the capital.
He was just writing books and creating, but the great writer Yu Zhenyu has now, without even realizing it, brought back astronomical amounts of foreign exchange for the country, measured in hundreds of millions.
In an era when the average monthly income was only in the double digits, or a few dozen yuan.
The super satellite launched by the great writer Yu was absolutely earth-shattering.
Prior to this, the Shanghai municipal government had considered the matter, but at that time, everyone was thinking about how to ensure that the several million yuan in royalties earned by the great writer Yu could be received in the most appropriate way, so that he could feel at ease receiving it and spending it with the same peace of mind.
It's worth several million yuan after all!
That's more money than you could spend in several lifetimes!
But gritting their teeth, the relevant leaders of the municipal government still had some confidence, believing that they could control the situation and would absolutely not let the great writer Yu become a hero for the national innovation and entrepreneurship, but instead have to live in fear.
However, it is now expected that at least $150 million in foreign exchange earnings will be generated within the next five years.
This means that the decision must be made directly by "reaching the ears of Heaven".