Sony is now caught in a vicious cycle.
If the production line is shut down, then all the raw materials they purchased, the highly paid workers they hired, and the physical advertisements they put up for promotion will be for nothing.
But if production continues and products keep coming out, no one will buy them.
MP3 digital music player products are a very cutting-edge technology, and in terms of price, they have no way to further reduce costs.
Sony headquarters is still holding on, but its distributors in Europe and North America have long since given up.
Many distributors have disregarded contracts and are selling iPods privately through offline outlets.
It's really bizarre that a Sony distributor is selling Longteng Electronics products under the Sony brand.
While Chen Dong was looking at the impressive financial report during a meeting, he received a court summons from the Ministry of Justice.
There was a huge amount of text on it, but Chen Dong could only make out Ma Guoliang's name.
"What does this mean?" Chen Dong looked at the legal documents, always feeling overwhelmed.
Ministry of Justice Explanation:
"The Recording Industry Association of America has sued our shell company in the Cayman Islands."
"What's the reason?" Chen Dong asked with a bitter face. He thought for a moment, and realized that Ma Guoliang had no grudge against the record company.
"They accused the iPod music player of infringing on the music copyrights of record companies."
Chen Dong then realized that most iPod users are young people, and they have to spend money to buy records and CDs.
However, iPods can download and play songs online for free, and the playlist can be changed at any time.
The United States has a strict set of regulations regarding copyright protection.
Ma Guoliang took the court summons and asked, "If we respond to the lawsuit, what are the chances that your Ministry of Justice will win?"
He didn't seem very confident when he asked that question.
The Ministry of Justice's response made him even less confident: "Longteng was previously banned from the European and American markets, and there was nothing we could do about it."
“That’s on someone else’s turf; the rules aren’t there to protect us.”
Chen Dong scratched his head and said impatiently, "I know, get out."
The Justice Department staff had just left when the office door opened again, and Annie came in with a cup of coffee.
“I already know about the court summons,” Anne said, knowing his distress, but problems always need a solution. “I heard the legal team at Asia Travel Capital is quite good, so perhaps we…”
"Borrow their legal team?" Chen Dong asked rhetorically.
Anne nodded. "There's nothing we can do about it. Even if we had a good team, we still wouldn't be able to do anything when we're on someone else's turf."
"Besides, the person sued on the court summons is Ma Guoliang. If we can't win this case, he'll probably have to suffer in prison for a while."
It was Chen Dong who instructed Ma Guoliang to register a shell company in the Cayman Islands under his own name. Now that the record company is suing him, they are naturally suing him, the nominal founder of the iopd brand.
Chen Dong fell silent. Previously, Longteng Group had already been blocked from the free market by European and American regulatory authorities using so-called laws.
Although the matter has now been resolved satisfactorily, it has caused Longteng Group a lot of trouble.
Although Longteng Electronics is now shining brightly on Amazon, Chen Dong still doesn't consider establishing offline flagship stores in Europe and America.
They are different from Sony, whose headquarters are in Japan. To put it bluntly, as long as the United States and Japan don't fall out, Sony will have a share of the European and American markets.
Longteng has suffered a severe blow from the European and American markets, and the regulatory authorities are still keeping an eye on Longteng to find any fault with it.
Chen Dong spent the night on the rooftop of Pengcheng Building enjoying the wind, and that very night he bought a plane ticket to Hong Kong.
"Annie, call Li Ka-shing's secretary to make an appointment for me. Tell him I want to see him and I'll be arriving in Hong Kong soon," Chen Dong left a message for Annie before boarding the plane.
After his relationship with Li Ka-shing improved last time, he didn't know if Li would help him.
Upon arriving in Hong Kong, Li Ka-shing unexpectedly came to the airport to pick me up.
"Chen Sheng!"
"Mr. Li, it's been a long time." Chen Dong was a little surprised. "I could have just gone straight to the company. Why did you have to pick me up from the airport?"
“You don’t come to the company unless you need something, so I wouldn’t dare let you come to the office so easily,” Li Jiacheng said, half-jokingly. “Why don’t you come to my house instead?”
Upon arriving at Li Ka-shing's villa, Chen Dong told him about receiving a court summons and asked Li Ka-shing for advice on how to handle copyright lawsuits like this.
"As expected, people don't visit the temple without a reason," Li Jiacheng remarked.
“My team is more familiar with the civil law system,” Chen Dong explained. “Hong Kong law is based on the common law system, and they find it difficult to adapt to the adversarial process of the common law system.”
"So I can only find a lawyer who is more specialized in this area."
Li Ka-shing smiled slyly, "If Longteng Group wants to hire an overseas copyright lawyer, is that not possible?"
"It's not that it's impossible, it's just that I don't trust him." Chen Dong thought of Ma Guoliang, who he had pushed into becoming the boss of a shell company. Now, the lawyer he needed to find had to be the best.
"To be honest, this lawsuit is different from the lawsuits that Longteng Group has faced in the past. We cannot afford to lose this time."
On the one hand, this is because it is the first time that Longteng Group has had a direct conflict with European and American media and non-governmental organizations since it regained its market access qualification.
Dragon Soars cannot back down.
On the other hand, the second generation of iPod is about to be launched, and there absolutely cannot be any problems in the European and American markets at this time.
The last and most important reason is that the person being sued this time is Ma Guoliang and his company, and Chen Dong must protect him.
Li Jiacheng nodded. "Understood."
Knowing he was anxious, Li Ka-shing recommended the best copyright lawyer to him.
Chen Dong didn't linger in Hong Kong for long; he returned to the DragonTeng headquarters with his lawyer.
Two days later, Ma Guoliang appeared in court.
Plaintiff: American Recording Industry Association.
It represents record labels and North American music media companies in suing the iPod for copyright infringement.
In court, Ma Guoliang produced the original iPod parts, which showed that the iPod was simply an audio player.
There is nothing else; he is a medium, a tool.
Ma Guoliang explained: "If I were a knife seller, whether my customers would use my knife to kill someone or to cook is none of my business, and I have no right or ability to control that."
"Similarly, our iPod is just an electronic device. Throughout the entire process of developing the iPod, and during the process of the marketing department delivering the iPod to consumers, we did not touch the digital resources of the record at all."
"You say that the iPod infringes on the copyright of record companies, then why is the memory chip empty before the iPod is sold?"
......
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