How can you become a star without money?

Chapter 76 Copyright Infringement: Whose Rights Are Infringed? [3rd Update, Please Subscribe]

Wang Yao's budget of 100 million US dollars was obviously a fabrication.

The goal was to raise Deng Wendi's psychological threshold, making her feel that if she dared to ask for this price, it was worth it, and thus increase her confidence in investing in the project.

"The main problem is that the cost of maintaining users is very high, and if the Chinese solution is successful, it will also be applicable to the entire East Asia region," Wang Yao nodded.

"I need to make a serious plan, after all, I also need to take your rights into account," Deng Wendi said solemnly.

They were using a feigned retreat to gauge Wang Yao's desire for other benefits, such as shares.

"It's okay, I believe Sister Di won't treat me unfairly. The most important thing is to do things well." Wang Yao grinned innocently.

Looking at Wang Yao's sunny smile, Deng Wendi suppressed her doubts.

Strange, they didn't continue to haggle?

"Oh, right, there's one more thing. Did you post that Weibo message for Li Bingbing?" Deng Wendi changed the subject.

"Oh, it was for Brother Quan. I didn't expect him to give it away." Wang Yao smiled.

"Thanks to this Weibo post, Li Bingbing gained a lot of followers. I'm quite familiar with her sister, and she asked me to thank you. She helped them find a good persona for their career development," Deng Wendi said with a smile.

"It's good that it's helpful." Wang Yao smiled. The online heroine persona is not easy to pull off; it's easy to backfire.

"I'm preparing to collaborate with Huayi Brothers on a film with a female-centric theme. We've cast her as the lead actress, and the other actress is Jun Ji-hyun from Korea."

"Talking to you today has broadened my thinking quite a bit. Maybe this movie could be marketed to disadvantaged groups. Consider it a favor I owe you." Deng Wendi offered a gesture of goodwill, serving as a point of contact for future interactions.

"Sister Di, I do have something I'd like to ask you for help with," Wang Yao said directly.

He doesn't like people owing him anything; he wants to repay kindness on the spot.

"Huh? Tell me about it." Deng Wendi was taken aback; it was the first time she had ever heard someone so rude.

Favors are meant to be given to you, not for you to use!
The little boy has absolutely no sense of propriety.

"I'd like to meet with a senior executive at SM Entertainment to discuss a potential collaboration," Wang Yao said with a smile.

"SM?" Deng Wendi raised an eyebrow slightly, turning to look at Li Fuzhen, who was pretending to be busy on the sofa. "Is SM your family's cash cow?"

"No, but I can arrange it. However, you have to tell this little brother that it's very impolite to peek at my legs and that he should apologize." Li Fuzhen snorted coldly.

This was the first time in my life that a man—no, a boy—had stared at me so openly. I had originally planned to complain to Deng Wendi after Wang Yao left.

She never expected that this guy would need her help, so she couldn't stand it anymore.

"Huh? It's not like people will lose a piece of flesh if they look at you a couple of times. If you don't want to be stared at, don't dress up so provocatively and act as a decoration here," Deng Wendi couldn't help but tease.

Having been best friends for many years, we naturally know each other's character.

Wang Yao is currently her top priority for protection; she can't afford to let him be ruined.

“Then you’ll have to figure it out yourself. Kim Eung-min is a wolf in sheep’s clothing. Without my intervention, he’ll definitely be difficult to deal with.” Lee Boo-jung raised her chin slightly.

"You!" Deng Wendi had a headache; she was truly helpless in the face of all the convoluted and complicated things that happened in Korea.

“What I’m looking at isn’t just legs, it’s legs. I know so much about my sister’s past. When I see her legs, it’s like I’m seeing the path she’s walked, all the joys and sorrows along the way.” Wang Yao suddenly interrupted their English conversation in Korean.

The atmosphere instantly became awkward.

Deng Wendi doesn't understand Korean very well, but she was surprised that Wang Yao could.

Lee Boo-jung's originally pale face instantly turned rosy, perhaps due to years of pampered living or beauty treatments, making her look as red as if her blood was about to seep out.

"How do you know Korean?!" Lee Boo-jung's voice became somewhat high-pitched due to her shock and anger.

Harassment! How dare someone openly harass her!

"Uh, is that not allowed?" Wang Yao scratched his head for no apparent reason.

"It seems he's already apologized to you." Deng Wendi interrupted the conversation with a smile. "Please help me out."

"Damn it, this is so embarrassing! Let him ride in my car, let's go!" Li Fuzhen screamed, covering her face.

It's common to see young girls with a mature woman's aura, but a mature woman with a girl's aura is truly a rare find.

Wang Yao squinted, stood up, and said, "Thank you."

“If you’re not in a hurry, we can formally arrange a meeting for you.” Deng Wendi wasn’t as hasty as Li Fuzhen.

"It's alright, the other party may not necessarily be willing to cooperate. If possible, let's do it today." Wang Yao smiled.

“Okay, I’ll have Secretary Kim accompany you. She should be quite familiar with the people there. This hospital specializes in providing services for top Korean celebrities. As for whether you can meet the highest-ranking officials, that depends on her arrangements. Your family’s project will probably take a long time to complete. Shall we have dinner together tonight?” Deng Wendi led Wang Yao downstairs.

"Wouldn't that be too much trouble?" Wang Yao said with a smile.

"No, we have to eat anyway. There aren't many good Chinese restaurants here, and Korean food is too awful. Let's have Western food." Deng Wendi handed Wang Yao over to the artificially beautiful Secretary Kim in the underground parking lot.

Riding in Lee Boo-jung's car, they headed straight for SM Entertainment. As soon as the car pulled into the company gate, they saw a row of smartly dressed business professionals already waiting.

This is the happiness of a chaebol.

For Li Fuzhen, arranging Wang Yao's appointment was just a casual remark, but for these people, it might be a huge deal.

Even if Sanxing is a direct descendant with little real power, he is enough to make them unable to stand up straight.

The highest-ranking person in this group was only a department manager. CEO Kim Eung-min naturally wouldn't personally greet him, because he was not only the president of the company, but also a direct relative of a certain president.

Surrounded by a group of bewildered executives, Wang Yao was presented to Jin Yingmin.

"Hello Mr. Wang, nice to meet you." Jin Yingmin looks a bit like Director Chen when he was young.

"President Jin, I apologize for disturbing you." Wang Yao shook hands and apologized.

"No, no, I didn't have anything planned for today. Mr. Wang, are you Chinese? How do you know Fuzhen?" Jin Yingmin laughed heartily, and the way he addressed him suggested that they were indeed acquaintances.

“My sister is very familiar with Miss Li,” Wang Yao said, using a vague title.

Jin Yingmin raised an eyebrow slightly. "Then they're one of us. They're asking me about a collaboration? An endorsement or a concert?"

"Take a look at this." Wang Yao took out the latest generation of photocards from his bag, including those of Girls' Generation and Super Junior.

"This? Hmm? It's a pretty little thing, a fan-made item? That's interesting. Mr. Wang is a fan?" Kim Eung-min took the item with some surprise, but he saw through the deception.

"I found this in the Chinese market; someone is selling these small cards," Wang Yao explained briefly.

"Infringement! This is an infringement!" Kim Eung-min blushed slightly upon hearing that the company had profited over 100 million won, but quickly calmed down.

"But there's nothing we can do. These kinds of pirated merchandise have been rampant in your country for ten years now. The laws in the two countries are different, so it's very difficult to pursue legal action. But Mr. Wang did give me a nice idea for some merchandise. It's quite exquisite. It seems the seller is also a fan."

Korean idol merchandise has been rampant in China since the turn of the millennium, with all sorts of stickers, notebooks, and even backpacks and pencil cases appearing one after another, making it impossible to regulate.

It has to be said that big shots are magnanimous. Knowing the difficulties of protecting their rights, they immediately understood and started thinking about making money.

“SM Entertainment’s groups still have a large market in China. I’m here to sell these photocards. I wonder if there’s a chance for us to cooperate,” Wang Yao said frankly.

"So, you're looking to represent our artists' image rights? That's feasible. We're planning to expand into the Chinese market this year and are currently seeking partners."

"But as you've seen, the market for these kinds of peripheral products isn't very large, and with the impact of piracy and copyright infringement, it's actually not a very good business," Jin Yingmin kindly reminded him.

“It’s okay, because I’m a fan myself. If the quality of my official merchandise is good, there should still be a market for it. But if the agency fee is too high, then forget it, since it’s a small business.” Wang Yao smiled subtly.

Infringement? Whose rights are being infringed?
"These card formats are regionally exclusive, so the prices aren't too high. Moreover, these licenses are based on sales revenue, such as 10% to 20% of sales. Japanese anime licenses are quite common," Golden Eagle explained proactively.

After friendly negotiations, both parties agreed to use 20% of the sales revenue as copyright fees to authorize SM to use the image rights of all current and future artists for 10 years. However, the contract stipulated that the images could only be used on cards and similar items. The contract also required a symbolic deposit of 20 Chinese Yuan.

It has to be said that even with Lee Boo-jung's connections, Kim Eung-min's fees were still incredibly high. But it didn't matter, because even so, the gross profit margin of the small card was still over 50%.

Many companies don't really care about the copyright of artists' overseas merchandise, mainly because the cost of protecting their rights is too high. Unless it causes serious and huge losses, such as fake endorsements, they are generally unwilling to get involved.

However, even a small amount is still something. Later, domestic and foreign companies collaborated to develop copyrights and sell them domestically. An artist's image rights were licensed to countless companies, and there were even dedicated copyright websites.

Kim Eung-min was very moved and pleased by Wang Yao's initiative to cooperate. Although it was a small collaboration, Lee Boo-jung had arranged it, so there must be a reason for it. Knowing that he was a fan of SM Entertainment, he specially took him on a tour of the company.

This is the power of connections. If Wang Yao had come to him on his own, this small collaboration wouldn't have bothered him.

Girls' Generation recently released their new album "OH!" and are currently promoting it as a group.

Wang Yao visited their rehearsal room and found nothing interesting. These girls usually rehearse in a plain and unadorned manner, dressed very sloppily, and didn't look like top-tier actresses at all.

However, the members of Girls' Generation were still very curious about Wang Yao, a completely unfamiliar face.

A new trainee at the company? Who's he? Why does the company president have to personally entertain him?
Wang Yao declined the fan perks offered by the Golden Eagles and did not go up to greet them. Instead, he carefully toured the company, which was hailed as Asia's No. 1 Star Factory, and then prepared to leave.

"Hello, President. Oh? Mr. Wang?" I unexpectedly bumped into Song Qian in the corridor. She was carrying large bags and small packages and seemed to be delivering food.

"Oh, what a coincidence, Miss Song, we meet again." Wang Yao smiled, his gaze falling on the girl behind her wearing a baseball cap, her delicate, cold face showing signs of severe sleep deprivation.

"You two know each other?" Jin Yingmin suddenly became a little suspicious.

The termination of his contract with Han Geng last year caused him great psychological trauma, and now he is particularly strict in his control over Chinese artists.

"We just met yesterday," Wang Yao explained.

“Victoria is our company’s darling. Mr. Wang, you can help promote her more in China in the future,” Kim Eung-min said with a smile, his words carrying a hidden meaning.

"Of course, you're just delivering food, I won't bother you any longer," Wang Yao said knowingly.

"Yes, I'm going to deliver food to her sister. This is Zheng Xiujing, one of the younger members of my group. She's a bit shy around strangers," Song Qian said with a smile.

Upon hearing this, Krystal shrank back behind her, her previously listless eyes suddenly sharpening as she warily scrutinized Wang Yao.

Her intuition told her that this handsome man with a great smile didn't seem like a good person!
After seeing Wang Yao off, Jin Yingmin questioned Song Qian for a long time before finally confirming that the two had indeed met by chance yesterday.

However, what is the background of this Mr. Wang who knows both Li Rongyu and Li Fuzhen?
(End of this chapter)