After rebirth, I became a great master

Chapter 367 Don’t hit the smiling man

The previous data was easy to handle.

Even if the other party's conditions are harsh, there are ways to deal with them. It's nothing more than falsifying some data to protect one's own interests.

However, counterfeiting does not necessarily violate regulations or laws.

For example, 5% of the annual sales revenue must be allocated to marketing expenses, which is a significant amount.

A book is priced at 20 yuan, and if it sells 10,000 copies a year, the total price is 200,000 yuan. 5% of that is 10,000 yuan. But in reality, the ex-factory price of those 10,000 books is probably only 6 yuan, so the publisher's actual income is 60,000 yuan.

If you earn 6 yuan, you need to spend 1 yuan on marketing.

A lot of pressure.

There are many ways to deal with this; insider trading is one option.

Zhongbo Bookstore wanted to allocate 1 yuan for marketing, so they transferred the money to Haoqi Sunshine Company and asked Yangyang to act as their agent. Yangyang received an agency fee of 9900 yuan, but the actual advertising investment was only 100 yuan.

Left hand turns to right hand.

These are all legal and compliant transactions, and are the most common practices of Hollywood film companies.

Books like Harry Potter don't need marketing at all.

Hollywood movies are the biggest advertisements.

The most crucial clause is the term.

"Term?" Qi Deqiang didn't pay attention to this clause. "Five years, let's just sign it normally."

"Year 5?"

Zhou Haoran absolutely could not agree.

"how?"

Qi Deqiang was slightly taken aback.

"The timeframe is too short!"

Zhou Haoran has now bought the Harry Potter rights at a bargain price. Once the movies are released and become a global phenomenon, the terms for the five-year contract renewal will be even more stringent.

If we sign a contract now, the longer the better.

"Five years isn't a short time, is it?" Qi Deqiang followed the conventional thinking in the publishing industry. "Normally, a book has a contract of 5 to 7 years. If it's a new book by an uncertain new author, it might only be signed for 3 years. If it's a well-known work by an established author, it might be signed for 10 years."

Zhou Haoran was still not satisfied, "Only 10 years at most?"

Qi Deqiang said, "That's not true. For world-famous classics like 'One Hundred Years of Solitude,' publishers in many countries sign 15-year copyright contracts in one go. There are also 'The Old Man and the Sea,' 'Pride and Prejudice,' and so on. Only these timeless classics that can transcend time can get 15-year contracts."

This principle is correct.

Because many books are popular, even if they become very popular, their popularity will only last for a few years at most.

Only literary classics with true artistic value will be remembered for generations.

It is books like these that would prompt publishers to take the risk of signing long-term contracts.

Zhou Haoran asked, "What are the risks of signing long-term contracts for publishing houses?"

Qi Deqiang said, "It's about the minimum sales guarantee every year! Take 'Harry Potter' for example. The other party requires at least 5 copies to be printed every year. But what if the market doesn't buy it? If 5 copies are printed a year, royalties have to be paid according to the standard of 5 copies. But the sales may only be 1000 copies. There will be serious losses every year, and the longer the period, the more losses there will be."

Zhou Haoran was relieved and waved his hand, "Don't worry about that!"

Qi Deqiang understood what he meant. "Mr. Zhou, do you mean you want to sign a long-term contract with the Harry Potter bookmarks?"

Zhou Haoran said, "Yes, a long-term contract! The longer the better! If the other party can agree to a 20-year or 30-year contract, that would be even better!"

"That's impossible; it will peak in 15 years."

Qi Deqiang shook his head.

He then offered an explanation for this.

In the overseas publishing industry, the agent system is the norm. Authors may not know anything, but agents do, and they represent the author's interests.

15 years is the maximum possible term.

It’s different in China.

Writers are all individuals.

The complete absence of a book brokerage industry makes it difficult to protect authors' rights, making them easy targets for exploitation. Forget signing long-term contracts; simply buying out the full copyright of their works would be easy.

"I see, what a pity..."

Zhou Haoran calculated that even 15 years later, the Harry Potter film series was still going strong. It remains the world's best-selling novel and the best original novel for Chinese teenagers to learn English.

Qi Deqiang cautioned, "Mr. Zhou, signing a long-term contract carries significant risks and costs. If we sign a 5-year contract, considering the domestic market conditions, we might not even need to pay a signing fee, just a £5000 advance payment. However, a 15-year contract could involve a substantial signing fee."

"how many?"

"It's estimated to cost tens of thousands of pounds."

"what!"

Zhou Haoran was amused by him.

Qi Deqiang said seriously, "Tens of thousands of pounds, converted to domestic currency, would be hundreds of thousands!"

Zhou Haoran said firmly, "I've made up my mind about this. We must acquire the rights to 'Harry Potter.' And I believe this series will achieve unprecedented success in China. Therefore, taking some risks upfront is equivalent to a long-term guarantee for the future! We must sign a long-term contract! The longer the better!"

Over the next twenty years, Harry Potter will sell more than 3000 million copies of the original books in China, with a total value exceeding 15 billion yuan.

This doesn't even include the digital version.

Most importantly, if Zhongbo Bookstore acquires the rights to "Harry Potter" and achieves great success in its domestic operations, this can become a bargaining chip in negotiations.

This case will serve as the best proof for future negotiations with foreign publishers regarding copyright acquisition.

“If that’s the case…” Qi Deqiang narrowed his eyes, “it’s not impossible to extend the contract to more than 15 years.”

"Oh?"

Zhou Haoran's eyes lit up.

Qi Deqiang said, "We can add an automatic renewal clause. For example, if the sales volume of the previous year exceeds 10 or 20 copies, the contract can be automatically renewed for another year. The contract will end when the data falls below the target. As long as the annual sales volume is guaranteed, it can theoretically continue indefinitely."

Zhou Haoran said happily, "Okay, let's go with this approach. Contact Jiang Xiong and Wei Jie! Let them negotiate the terms!"

……

Tuesday arrived. The China-Japan showdown was about to begin.

Zhou Haoran went to school early in the morning to make final preparations.

Ning Yuanjia, Qiao Hai, Yang Yuanju, Yan Siyuan, and Gong Wu had arrived long ago and were conducting final product tests. Everyone looked cheerful and showed no sign of nervousness.

"How about it?"

Zhou Haoran understood the situation from the atmosphere.

Ning Yuanjia said, "Easy to take!"

Zhou Haoran laughed and said, "Don't be careless."

“Their product has too many weaknesses. The enemy is in the open, while we are in the dark. We have nothing to fear!” Ning Yuanjia had already obtained detailed information about the enemy’s product. He then looked at the memo provided by Oracle and found some common problems to target. “There are 28 targets in total. We can crush them no matter what.”

"Have you finished summarizing? Let me take a look."

Zhou Haoran got the materials.

Know yourself and the enemy, a hundred battles will never end.

Based on the details of the University of Tokyo campus card and with the assistance of Oracle data, Ning Yuanjia and his team found a total of 28 key points that could be targeted.

When the official competition begins at 10 o'clock, take advantage of your home field and focus on these 28 key points.

I guarantee I'll make the University of Tokyo team look like a complete fool!

A slap in the face right there on the spot!

Zhou Haoran glanced through it briefly. "Some school leaders will be there, and a city leader will also be there. They're mostly laymen when it comes to computers. We'll skip the software, communication, and protocol aspects and focus mainly on the hardware. As long as they can understand it..."

Ning Yuanjia laughed and said, "Everything is ready. Let's focus on the demonstration effect first. If any leaders ask, we can delve deeper. I studied their campus card system for two days, and it's just so-so! I thought it was so ingenious!"

"Alright, let's give them something tough!"

Zhou Haoran felt that this might be a blessing in disguise.

In this day and age, the idea of ​​worshipping foreign things and fawning over foreigners is very serious.

Especially in the technology sector.

Foreign products can be said to completely dominate domestic products.

This idea also exists in universities.

Even though Zhou Haoran has achieved world-class success in the academic field, many people still believe that foreigners are more powerful when compared with them.

This time, Vice President Zhang Xuezhen invited a team from the University of Tokyo!

Exactly!

Take this opportunity to rise to power by stepping on the corpses of the scientific team from the University of Tokyo!

Ning Yuanjia rallied the troops, saying, "The time has come to show our national power!"

Qiao Hai also said excitedly, "Kill them!"

At this time, someone knocked on the door.

The lab's counselor, Zheng Shuangwen, went to open the door and was slightly taken aback.

There were five men in formal attire standing at the entrance.

It looks weird.

"Who are you looking for?"

Zheng Shuangwen felt that these people didn't seem like Chinese people.

She really guessed it right.

A young man wearing glasses bowed and said in broken Chinese, "You...you, excuse me, is Mr. Zhou here?"

"Who?"

Zheng Shuangwen didn't quite understand.

Upon hearing "Zhou Haoran," Zhou Haoran quickly came out. He saw that the group was led by a small, white-haired man who looked to be in his fifties, with four young men behind him.

You'll understand at a glance.

This might be a team from the University of Tokyo!

The one leading the group should be Professor Fukuda, the project manager for the University of Tokyo campus card program.

Ning Yuanjia's expression changed slightly, thinking to himself, "The Japanese devils have come to our door?"
Are they here to provoke us?

They've spoiled their bad habits!
“I am Zhou Haoran, and you are…” Zhou Haoran appeared, then switched to English, “You can speak English, right? You can communicate in English. I am Zhou Haoren.”

His appearance.

The five people on the other side instantly became enraged, and their faces flushed slightly.

The back row moved back, and the rows were arranged to the left and right.

It's similar to lining up in a queue.

He bowed deeply to him.

Even the short, elderly man in his fifties bowed meticulously, in the manner of a disciple.

"Hello Mr. Zhou Haoren, I am Gota Fukuda, a professor at the Faculty of Information Science, University of Tokyo. I came to China specifically to visit you..."

Professor Fukuda's English accent was very strong, but fortunately I could understand him.

That sincerity and respect on his face couldn't be faked.

There was absolutely no provocation involved.

Zhou Haoran chuckled inwardly.

Okay.

Turns out he wasn't a challenger; he was just a fanboy from the University of Tokyo!

"Come in, please come in!"

Zhou Haoran, not one to hit a smiling face, invited the other person into the laboratory.

(End of this chapter)