Entertainment: I am the peak

Chapter 700: Damn kiwis!!
Regardless of the circumstances, it is commendable that Li Qiutang and Liu Yifei's first art film was nominated for the main competition at Cannes.

A little praise wouldn't be too much.

It's common knowledge that Li Qiutang had no prior experience at international film festivals. Even if he had extensive connections, it would be impossible for him to have any influence in Cannes.

So the fact that "Marriage Story" was shortlisted for this year's main competition really shows that Li Qiutang has some talent in art films.

The haters had nowhere to start.

However, Li Qiutang and Liu Yifei, who was filming at the Western Film Studio, remained calm about being nominated and did not even respond on Weibo.

It's just being shortlisted, not winning an award. It's not worth making a big deal out of it and treating it as a serious matter.

Li Qiutang is currently handling an infringement case.

The reality show "Idol Producer" hosted by kiwifruit has come to an end, with nine trainees, including Kun Kun, forming a group and debuting.

The show has generated tremendous online discussion and achieved great success since it aired.

However, "Idol Producer" infringed on copyright!

South Korean entertainment company Mnet accused "Idol Producer" of being highly similar to its "Produce 101" in every aspect, from program concept and structure to competition system and visual design. The Chinese copyright of "Produce 101" is held by Mubu Culture, an internet entertainment company under the Autumn Group.

The official version of "Produce 101" produced by Mubu Culture hasn't even aired yet!
As a platform partner of "Produce 101", Tencent did not want to have a conflict with iQiyi and advocated settling things amicably. The show had already finished airing, and there was no point in discussing the infringement now.

Mubu Culture doesn't really want to cause trouble; these kinds of things are hard to untangle.

Li Qiutang frowned and finally said, "We signed an exclusive license for the 101 format in China. Now he's plagiarizing our work and stealing our thunder. I'm not going to let him get away with this so easily!"

Legally, both the original copyright holder in South Korea and Mubu Culture have the right to sue Kiwifruit.

But in practice, it's not that simple.

If the identification process alone drags on for a year or two, Li Qiutang won't be able to say anything.

Li Qiutang didn't want to file a lawsuit right away.

The key point is that Koreans and penguins are incredibly shrewd when it comes to this.

Mnet simply issued a statement condemning iQiyi, without taking any concrete action. They argued that the agreement had already been authorized to Mubu Culture, and how it was handled was Mubu Culture's business.

Penguin stood on the dry shore, advocating for peace and rejecting Mubu Culture. But Li Qiutang had no doubt that if Mubu Culture achieved some success, Penguin would not hesitate to step in and take a slice of the pie.

"We've tried communicating with Kiwifruit before, but they ignored us." The profits from "Idol Producer" are too high; even knowing it infringes on copyrights, Kiwifruit will still continue to produce the show.

Is he a rogue? Yes, he is, but that's how he often does things.

A group of people were having a meeting when a phone call came to the mobile phone of the marketing director of "Produce 101".

The marketing director glanced at the caller ID and said to everyone, "It's about kiwifruit."

"I'll answer." Li Qiutang also wanted to hear what the other party had to say.

The marketing director answered the phone and put it on speakerphone.

Kiwifruit must know it's infringing on copyrights. Copyright issues are troublesome, but if not handled properly, they can cause even more problems.

A scoundrel can act like a villain for a while, but not forever.

The vice president of the kiwi fruit company only called to "discuss what to do" after the show had finished airing and the boy group had debuted. This was a way of maximizing his own interests.

But the "backdrop culture" just keeps going. Nobody wants to end up in court. You have autumn behind you, they have Baidu behind them—who's afraid of whom?

The vice president of Kiwifruit made it very clear that Kiwifruit was willing to reach a reconciliation with Mubu Culture: "Let's stop fighting each other; it's not good for either of us if we both suffer losses."

But everyone at Mubu Culture felt that Kiwi Fruit had gone too far, and now they're coming to seek reconciliation. Why didn't they do that earlier?

The show's over, the money's all gone, and now you know to come and settle?

The culture of using screens is not so easy to appease.

The director of the curtain replied, "It's not that we want to fight. You know the specifics. Our program is about to air, and you've snatched the market premiere. Who will bear our losses?"

Just like back then, Yu Zheng and Cai Yinong competed for the first Qing Dynasty costume drama, and whoever was chosen became an instant hit.

Anyway, the kiwi fruit broadcast is over, so let Mubu Culture say whatever they want, it won't hurt them.

However, Kiwi Fruit insisted that he wanted to resolve the issue and suggested that they schedule a time for both parties to sit down and have a proper talk.

Mubu Culture certainly wanted to talk and promised to come and talk with Tencent, but Kiwi requested that Century Autumn and Autumn Pictures also send vice presidents or higher-level executives to attend the meeting.

This is strange. Although Mubu Culture belongs to the Qiutian Group, as an internet entertainment brand, Mubu Culture has always maintained independent operation and is responsible for its own profits and losses.

There's no need to drag 2018 and Autumn Films into the current copyright dispute with kiwifruit.

But Mubu Culture didn't think much of it and agreed to the kiwi fruit's request.

After hanging up the phone, some people guessed what kiwifruit was planning: they just wanted to use the opportunity of the infringement negotiation to gain some other benefits.

One is a Top 3 company in the TV drama industry, and the other is a Top 1 company in the film industry. In the fall, these two companies controlled the best film and television resources in the domestic entertainment industry. How could Kiwi not be envious?
A week later, while watching the later episodes of "The Wandering Earth" in Liangxi, Li Qiutang received a progress report from Mubu Culture.

That damn kiwi, he said on the phone that he wanted to reconcile and sit down to talk, but he's still acting like a scoundrel.

Kiwifruit agreed to pay a settlement, but demanded that "Produce 101" be broadcast simultaneously on two online platforms.

The director in charge of "Produce 101" at Tencent almost got into a fight with the other party in the conference room.

This is blatant bullying! Tencent invested over 2 million!

Kiwifruit also wants to sign a priority purchase agreement with Century Autumn for 10 films and collaborate with Autumn Pictures to make movies.

Are they here for peace talks?!
Li Qiutang wasn't surprised, because if he were in that situation, he probably would have done the same. Since the infringement was already a fait accompli, and the cost of litigation was too high, it would be more worthwhile for all parties to sit down and take this opportunity to discuss terms and cooperation.

"How much should we quote?" The settlement amount was flexible, and Li Qiutang didn't interfere too much.

“我们有10年的独家版权，开价今年2亿，以后他每做一季就上涨20%。”16年幕布文化从韩国把版权买回来花了100亿韩元，合5100万元。

"Let's continue the discussion. The copyright is in our hands; we are the dominant party. Don't be afraid." Li Qiutang was far away in Liangxi and was going to Chengdu in a couple of days.

Sometimes business negotiations are no different from buying vegetables at the market.

The saying "be generous and magnanimous" is just for show. Behind closed doors, in order to gain greater benefits, one will resort to any means necessary, such as tantrums, cursing, and shamelessness.

After spending two days in Liangxi, Li Qiutang flew to Chengdu.

Many of the special effects for "The Wandering Earth" were done in Chengdu, but Li Qiutang came to Chengdu for another purpose—"Ne Zha".

We won't interfere with the creative process, but Coco Bean received so much money from Almond Films, and three years have passed, so Mr. Li should at least come and take a look.

(End of this chapter)