Chapter 590 - 590 Two Plans

Gu Tianle expressed his confusion, “As the most influential star in Harbor City and even in all of Asia, since you’ve already hired Big Brother to endorse your game, why did you have to infringe upon me? I know my own weight and that I can never compare with Big Brother. Please, would President Xu and Young Master Wang enlighten me.”

“Oh, you’re talking about that,” Xu Yang said with a smile, “Our Young Master Wang is not only rich enough to hire Brother Chen Long for endorsement, but he also wants to invite all the veteran artists from Harbor City to endorse our game.”

Gu Tianle suddenly understood, “So that’s how it is.”

Li Xinghe couldn’t help but say, “President Xu, you say Young Master Wang is wealthy, but why didn’t Wang Xiaocong directly discuss a cooperation instead of resorting to infringement? I believe that if you had come to discuss the cooperation with sincerity, Mr. Gu would not have turned you down.”

Xu Yang said, “Regarding this matter, we must apologize to Mr. Gu Tianle. Indeed, we were in the wrong, but at that time things were a bit urgent, and we acted first and reported later. For this, we are willing to say sorry.”

Wang Xiaocong followed with, “Yes, with our game, because it was about to launch officially, we suddenly changed the marketing strategy and had no choice but to use such an underhand tactic. It wasn’t intentional, and we are willing to apologize. We’re sorry.”

Xu Yang continued, “We now have prepared two options for you to choose from, and I hope we can reach a perfect resolution, achieving a win-win situation for everyone involved.”

Gu Tianle said, “What are the two options? Let’s hear them.”

Xu Yang said, “The first option is you sue Young Master Wang’s company over the infringement. You should know how difficult it is to win such a lawsuit. For instance, when Yu Zhen was sued for copying Qiong Yao’s work, he was ordered to pay five million plus a public apology. However, Yu Zhen only paid the five million, the apology never really happened, and eventually, the matter was dropped altogether. Similar was the case with Jordan’s infringement lawsuit, which also ultimately fizzled out. Nowadays, Jordan’s exclusive stores are still open all over the country without any issue. Young Master Wang can hire many top-notch lawyers, and they can easily drag the lawsuit out for years. So, if you go through with this lawsuit, even if you win, you may at most get a few million in compensation. After deducting the time cost and legal fees, breaking even would be considered fortunate. Do you agree that this is a reasonable assessment?”

Gu Tianle furrowed his brow.

Such lawsuits are indeed hard to fight.

Battling in court with someone like Wang Xiaocong for several years is really not a problem.

Spending a great deal of time and energy on this lawsuit, only to receive a few million in compensation, would truly be a loss that doesn’t justify the effort.

With the same time and energy, one could earn it all back by making a movie.

This was one of the reasons why infringement is so rampant.

Li Xinghe said coldly, “President Xu, are you threatening us?”

Xu Yang spread his hands, “Lawyer Li, I’m not threatening you, I’m just stating a fact.”

Li Xinghe looked at Gu Tianle, “Le Ge, what do you think about what President Xu said?”

This matter was indeed tricky. Although he was Gu Tianle’s lawyer, the ultimate decision needed to come from Gu Tianle himself.

Gu Tianle’s brow remained tightly knit.

If it were in the past when he was young, he would have been full of righteous passion, ready to pursue the lawsuit even if it meant no financial gain or even a loss, just to make the other party pay a price.

But he was no longer young, forcing him to consider issues based on interests.

He knew that many decisions should not be made based on personal likes and dislikes but rather on interests.

In today’s Harbor City entertainment industry, most of the resources were slanted toward Gu Tianle, who had evolved from a mere artist to a boss.

When considering issues, he no longer thought as an artist but as a boss.

A boss’s mindset is to prioritize interests, to maximize benefits within the bounds of legality and without compromising morals.

So when Gu Tianle saw that Xu Yang and Wang Xiaocong came with sincerity to discuss, he suppressed his anger and was willing to listen to them.

After hearing Xu Yang’s words, he felt that pursuing the lawsuit really wasn’t worth it and could even result in a loss.@@novelbin@@

There’s a saying that goes well, there are people who do the business of killing, but no one does the business of losing money.

As a boss, Gu Tianle would naturally not engage in a losing business.

Therefore, Gu Tianle would not sue unless it was absolutely necessary.

Thinking of this, Gu Tianle said, “Mr. Xu, I have always believed in valuing harmony. You and Mr. Wang are both prominent figures. If we were to go to court, it wouldn’t look good for anyone. You mentioned earlier that there were two solutions, and I would like to hear what the second one is.”

Xu Yang and Wang Xiaocong exchanged glances, knowing that things had essentially fallen into place.

Xu Yang said with a smile, “It’s clear why Mr. Gu Tianle has become a pillar of the Harbor City film industry, and it’s not without reason. I admire your rationality. Before discussing the second solution, I would like to ask how much is your current endorsement fee?”

Gu Tianle replied, “Around eight million.”

His endorsement fee was no secret; anyone who inquired would find out.

The film industry is one with considerable influence but a relatively small output value.

Forget about comparing it with the technology industry, even a manufacturing industry is beyond the reach of the film industry.

News reports often talk about fresh young actors getting over a hundred million in fees, little starlets with endorsements over a hundred million, or a celebrity earning tens of millions for a few days of filming.

In truth, these figures are manipulated, part of the capital’s hype for different purposes.

How could practitioners in an industry with such a low output value earn so much money?

It’s impossible for them to earn hundreds of millions, more than many executives of technology companies!

Actually, most stars’ endorsement fees aren’t that impressive.

When Xu Yang and Wang Xiaocong approached Chen Long, the international mega-star, with forty million, he couldn’t refuse.

In fact, even if you took that forty million to beautiful Hollywood, Downey might decline, but Depp definitely wouldn’t.

After all, Hollywood’s top salaries are only twenty million dollars.

How many people can command a twenty million dollar salary?

Even for those who can get twenty million, how many A-list big budget films with investments of over one hundred million dollars are made each year?

Moreover, filming a movie takes a lot of time and effort.

But shooting commercials is different.

For an advertisement like “Greedy Play Today,” just shout a few lines like “Come hack me if you’re a brother, free trade, fun and profitable,” and you can make forty million. Even Brother Chen Long feels that refusing such an endorsement would be criminal.

Although Gu Tianle has many resources now, the movies he shoots aren’t really that good, and they tend to perform poorly at the box office, so his endorsement fee really can’t get much higher.

That’s why when Xu Yang and Wang Xiaocong approached the old stars of Harbor City for endorsements, they had discussed it; offering Chen Long forty million was an exception.

As for other stars, the endorsement fees were generally under ten million.

Like the news claiming that offering a fresh-faced youth a hundred million for an endorsement is definitely impossible.

“We offer you fifteen million!” Xu Yang said. “Mr. Gu, out of this money, ten million is for you to endorse our game, and five million is an apology fee from me and Mr. Wang Xiaocong. You’ve seen our advertisement; it’s quite easy to shoot, it can be finished in a few hours. You might not even earn as much making an entire movie. We also deeply respect your contributions to charity work, which is why we’re offering you this price!”