I Inherited 5,000 Years of Family Property-Chapter 544 - 542: They are just brushing off a beggar

"Now that all film and television IP rights for my father's works are at Disney, you should go talk to Disney if you want to buy the rights, why come to me?" Jessie said with a laugh.

"Miss Jessie, since we've come to you today, it's naturally because we've done our homework," Wang Ling said. "While it's true that the rights to your father's works are currently with Disney, that's all based on a licensing agreement."

Jessie's face changed color, this was almost a family secret. How could Wang Ling and Zhang Menglong possibly know about it?

You see, this IP is practically equal to a mountain of gold and silver. If it became known that the rights were not held by a company but by an individual, it would spell disaster for their family.

At that time, countless people would want to get their hands on the rights from them and it might even lead to some extreme incidents. For this reason, related companies had all signed confidentiality agreements.

"Miss Jessie, no need to be nervous," Zhang Menglong said. "There's nothing in this world that I don't know about. Of course, besides the parties involved, only the two of us know about this matter. We're not looking to use this information as a threat against Miss Jessie, because our only goal is the rights."

"But why should I sell them to you?" Jessie said. "With these rights, I can collect a hefty sum in royalty fees every year."

"To my knowledge, the agreement your father signed authorizes Disney to manage the rights, including all film and television rights, merchandise rights, and so on, but you only get 100 million US Dollars in royalty fees per year. That doesn't seem like much, does it?"

"In a year, just the merchandise from Marvel alone can generate over 2 billion US Dollars in revenue for the company."

"What are you trying to say?"

"Only 100 million US Dollars in royalty fees per year, are they treating you like a beggar?" Wang Ling extended one hand. "If Miss Jessie is willing to transfer the rights to us, we can offer five times that amount!"

"Five hundred million US Dollars?" Jessie's breathing became somewhat heavy, they were starting with a bang, aiming to outbid her with cash!

She had seen bidding wars before, but doubling the bid was already a shocking scene, who had ever seen an opening bid quintupled? Shouldn't the bidding go up gradually? If this were an auction, some people would probably be cursing by now.

Moreover, to call an annual revenue of 100 million US Dollars after taxes – pure income for doing nothing but enjoying a life of leisure – treating one like a beggar, have you ever seen such a well-off and carefree beggar?

"I admit, I am tempted by the offer," Jessie said. "But you must realize, rights can't just be retracted on a whim. Our contracts have substantial penalties for breach."

"I am aware," Wang Ling said. "The penalty in the contract is 10 billion US Dollars, isn't it? Old Zhang!"

"Okay," Zhang Menglong put down his phone. "Miss Jessie, perhaps you should check the balance on your overseas card."

Jessie suddenly realized something and hastily logged into her account to check the balance. The long string of zeroes overwhelmed her.

"I assume this puts your mind at ease, Miss Jessie?"

"Gentlemen, your offer is indeed..." Jessie struggled to find the right adjective, "I suppose I have no reason to refuse. But I still want to know, why did the two of you go to such lengths to acquire these rights from me? Even if you were to make movies, it would take a long time to earn back those billions, wouldn't it?"

"We're just looking to consolidate the film industry a bit," bluffed Wang Ling. He obviously couldn't tell Jessie that they intended to put a hold on Marvel's new releases, unless Jessie truly became money-hungry to the extreme and could stand by as her father's proud creations were subjected to such treatment.

"Is that really the only reason?"

"Yes, so we'd like Miss Jessie to help us get in touch with a few other authors," Wang Ling produced a list, filled with names of those holding rights to works slated for recent release.

Of course, to mask their real intent, they had also added some other names to the list.

Seeing the list, much of Jessie's suspicion faded.

A normally thinking person wouldn't imagine someone trying to control international cinema and media releases in such a manner, would they?

Jessie was now convinced, Zhang Menglong and Wang Ling were indeed planning to integrate the entire movie industry.

But what did that have to do with her? As long as her father's works continued to thrive in the market, why should she care about the fate of others? All that mattered to her was making money.

It didn't matter who held the copyright, her annual income could still increase by fivefold. Whether it was Huaxia or America making money, it made no difference to her—money was all that was real.

"I know most of these people. I can help you contact them, but what's in it for me?" Jessie continued to ask.

"If Miss Jessie is willing to help us sign these contracts, then for each contract, I can offer Miss Jessie a reward of 100 million US Dollars!"

Jessie's lips twitched, wow, these two Huaxia rich second generations really know how to splash the cash!

"Since that's the case, I wish us a pleasant partnership. I believe that with your financial strength and resources, my father's works will certainly see better development," Jessie said, her words tinged with dignity, even if everyone knew the real score.

The father of Marvel, Stan Lee, indeed had an extensive network. In just a few days' time, Jessie helped them sign eight contracts. Shockingly, at the original press conference, she even publicly declared that she would reclaim the copyrights, and without the new copyright owner's permission, any media would be forbidden from using any Marvel intellectual properties!

Disney was immediately furious that night. Weren't they just advertising for the new movie release? How did this mess happen?

Clutching their contracts, Disney went straight to Jessie, trying to intimidate her into retracting her statement immediately.

But when Jessie tossed that icy 10 billion US Dollar penalty fee in Disney's face, they were utterly dumbfounded.

With this incident, the whole world worried whether the latest Avengers six could be released on time. On the announced release day, Paramount Pictures of Huaxia announced that Avengers six would be released as scheduled, but only within the Huaxia region. If other countries wanted to show the film, they were welcome to negotiate copyright issues with Paramount Pictures!

Wang Ling also updated a message on her microblog, and she added an emoticon pack to mock the companies that had refused her theaters at the time.

"Damn! 6666, I was wondering who had the deep pockets to acquire Marvel's copyrights. Turns out it was our very own big-shot Wang!"

"You guys see this schedule? 'Three-Body' and 'Avengers six' are both releasing at the same time, and 'Three-Body' has gotten the majority of the screenings."

"Damn! Why does Avengers six have so few screenings? I can't even buy a presale ticket. Wang Ling, are you a dog? Who wants to watch that dumbass movie 'Three-Body'?"

"I knew there would be biting dogs that would show up. Is our Huaxia cinematography worse than others? I just like watching 'Three-Body'!"

"I support 'Three-Body'! This time I'm standing firmly with Principal Wang!"

"Well done!"

...

As this news exploded in Huaxia, it also caused a sensation abroad.

This was the work that so many people had been waiting for over a year, and now it was not being released?

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Disney faced a dreadful backlash that very day, but Disney was helpless—the original copyright wasn't with them; the penalty fee had been paid, so what could they do?

"Hurry up and buy the rights in Huaxia!"

"If we can't see the movie within a week, you'll all be waiting to go bankrupt!"

"What kind of rubbish companies are you, to let such important copyrights slip away?"

...

Watching the chaotic film industry, Zhang Menglong and Wang Ling exchanged smiles—that was exactly the effect they wanted!