Chapter 10: Copyright
Chapter 10
He Yi opened the trending topics and found two pinned trending topics: one was a new song ("Arrogant"), and the other was a video edit of a woman passing out.
She then used Ji Xiaonian's Weibo account to edit a message: "I'm Ji Xiaonian's agent. She is still undergoing treatment. Thank you everyone for your concern."
After posting the Weibo update, He Yi sighed and put down her phone without paying more attention to it. She asked for two days off from her company and picked up her own phone. Life is too difficult.
The next day —
When Ji Nian woke up the next day, an IV drip hanger still came into view. She stared blankly, thinking she could go back to her original world.
"You're awake!" He Yi said happily.
Ji Nian turned her head and blinked blankly. Then she was also surprised: "He Yi! How did you get here!"
"You scared me to death. It's all because I didn't have money to hospitalize you last time. The doctor said this time you fainted due to excessive blood loss, surely because we didn't recuperate well before." He Yi's eyes were red with guilt all over her face.
"It's okay." Ji Nian smiled and said. She knew in her heart that it must not be excessive blood loss, but heartache. It was the too drastic emotional fluctuations in her mind that made her unable to breathe, could Ji Xiaonian still be there? Or was it her residual consciousness before she died?
"I'll definitely keep you in the hospital for a few more days no matter what this time." He Yi nodded firmly.
Outside, the weather was very nice with blue skies, white clouds, and sunlight that wasn't too harsh. At this time, two women were standing on the stairs at the hospital entrance in a daze.
He Yi looked incredulous and said, "You recovered so quickly?"
Ji Nian nodded. She insisted on being discharged, but the doctor refused. Then after another exam that showed her data was all normal, she went through the discharge procedure in front of the doctor's dumbfounded expression.
"Where do we go now?" He Yi's face was full of suspicion.
"Go home and take a look at my place." Ji Nian smiled.
To indulge today, they took a taxi since the distance was relatively close. It cost 20 yuan to arrive.
They went up to the third floor and entered the shabby farm building under He Yi's bewildered gaze and sat on the hard wooden bed.
"Guess how much per month?" Ji Nian asked with a smile.
"How much?" He Yi still hadn't recovered. Looking at the surroundings, her eyes turned red and she said, "My sister has suffered so much, from living in a villa to here..."
"Hey hey hey, why are you crying?" Ji Nian panicked and hurriedly took out tissues to wipe her tears.
"I'm so sorry, I didn't bring you wealth." He Yi said loudly and cried.
Ji Nian was speechless with a black line on her face. She silently waited for the woman to finish crying. She saw her stop and kept sobbing and said, "He Yi, are you done crying?"
"What's with that expression? I'm just concerned about you." He Yi wiped away her tears and said.
Before Ji Nian could speak, a cell phone ringtone sounded. The two were stunned.
"Unknown number?" He Yi's still hoarse voice.
Ji Nian was about to reach for it but was stopped. He Yi gestured with her eyes that she would take it herself. She put it to her ear and said, "Hello."
"Hello, is this Miss Ji?" A man's voice came from the other end of the phone.
"I'm Ji Xiaonian's agent He Yi. May I ask who you are?" He Yi looked confused.
"Miss He Yi, I'm Zhang Yuan, the person in charge of Dou Yin Company's music copyright. We'd like to put the songs "Arrogant" and "Guest" into the Dou Yin Music Library and would like to discuss the copyright issues." The person in charge of Dou Yin Company was surprised. Wasn't she released from her contract? There was still an agent?
After He Yi listened, she was stunned. Then she moved the phone away and whispered to the woman next to her: "Not bad, Dou Yin wants to buy the copyright of your two songs."
Then she picked up the phone again and said, "Director Zhang, here is the situation. These two songs are new songs, and I don't quite understand what this copyright means, what kind of form is it?"
"Miss He, this copyright means that we will use her original music and put it on the music platform so that others can directly insert it as background music when making videos. It won't affect the future development of these two songs on other platforms."
"I see. How long does your company want the contract term to be?" He Yi asked.
"Buyout." The other end responded directly and decisively. "We want to buy the permanent playback rights of these two songs on the Dou Yin platform. It's not calculated annually."
"Then what are the terms offered by your company?" He Yi asked.
"We understand Miss Ji's situation. For these two trending songs, our price is 1 million."
He Yi was surprised. Then after thinking about it, she calmly said, "Director Zhang has also seen that our artist has gained popularity and traffic in a short period of time. These two songs were not casually written either. Don't you think 1 million for permanent usage rights is a bit low?"
Hearing 10 million, Ji Nian was shocked. Was this money too easy to earn? Back then, with a monthly salary of 4,000 yuan, how long would it take to reach 10 million? She nodded eagerly at He Yi to signal agreement!
He Yi rolled her eyes at her and mouthed the words "no class". Then she ignored the woman and continued seriously negotiating the price with the person on the phone.
"Miss He, our company offered this price of 1 million because we saw the popularity of these two songs. And Miss Ji also has scandals haunting her now, so the price of these two songs won't rise. But I have another cooperation method."
"Please go ahead." He Yi answered.
""Guest" and "Arrogant", 1 million for permanent usage rights. For any new songs Miss Ji releases in the future, we can negotiate cooperation annually depending on if they still have good popularity. Then the pricing can be discussed." Director Zhang said.
"How about this, we'll consider it for two days and get back to you." He Yi said.
On the other side, Zhang Yuan was shocked. You still need to consider this? Isn't 1 million a lot? Given Ji Xiaonian's popularity and the black history in the news, 1 million was already very generous. Although surprised, he still answered, "Okay, we'll wait for Miss He's reply."
After hanging up, Ji Nian anxiously said: "He Yi, why did you say you'll consider it? 1 million! 1 million!"
"Can you calm down! Isn't 1 million a lot for permanent usage rights of two songs?" He Yi rolled her eyes at her.
"Can the price still go up?" Ji Nian asked.
"No." He Yi said calmly.
"Then why are you still considering!" Ji Nian was anxious. Wouldn't 10 million fly away?
"Tsk tsk, why agree so eagerly? Wouldn't that make us seem lacking in pricing power? Let's hang him for a day and give him a reply tomorrow to agree. I'll go with you to sign the contract." He Yi said.
Ji Nian calmed down and thought about it, then nodded and said, "Okay..."
Not long after, another phone ring sounded and the two were stunned again, looking over.
"Unknown number?" Ji Nian dazedly said.
He Yi reached out to tap the speaker button and said, "Hello."
"Hello, is this Miss Ji?" Another male voice came from the phone.
"I'm Ji Xiaonian's agent He Yi. May I ask who you are?" He Yi answered.
"Miss He Yi, I'm Zeng Hou from Penguin Music Platform. I'd like to discuss Miss Ji's music copyright with you." Zeng Hou was surprised. Wasn't her contract terminated? There's still an agent?