Shao Guangji is a veteran screenwriter and director with a thorough understanding of this gray area. His approach is exactly what's common in the Chinese entertainment industry; it's happened countless times before and will continue to happen. Any director or screenwriter who's foolish enough to pay copyright fees for these few "ideas" would be an anomaly in the industry.
Shao Guangji was too senior and experienced. Because of this, he never thought that doing so would cause any problems.
However, the reason why unspoken rules are called unspoken rules is because they cannot be openly discussed!
Since his rebirth, Shang Yechu has been constantly thinking about "The Heavenly Emperor." He not only recalls the movie's plot in his mind from time to time, but also reads all of Ai Xiaodong's works countless times.
Upon learning that "The Heavenly Emperor" had entered the casting stage, Shang Yechu resolutely risked everything and bought all the short stories she could remember that had been "borrowed" by Shao Guangji!
Your inspiration was great; now it's mine.
This move can only be described as ruthless.
Chinese copyright laws have always been cautious and ambiguous in their determination of copyright, infringement, and plagiarism cases. Therefore, it is extremely difficult for authors to protect their rights. However, if fifteen books are plagiarized in one go, and it involves exclusive agency contracts or other written agreements, then that's a different story. Even if Shao Guangji had a thousand mouths, he couldn't clear his name!
What Shang Yechu purchased was the exclusive film rights agency for these works in China. Copyright contracts are like recipes; you order what you want, and anything not written in the contract is invalid. No matter what unspoken rules you have, faced with a written contract, you can only remain speechless and pack your bags. Shao Guangji couldn't possibly say in front of a judge, "According to the unspoken rules in our industry, although these books weren't sold to me, it's okay for me to use them..."
In other words, Shang Yechu can sue Shao Guangji or Ai Xiaodong at any time if she wants to!
Either Shao Guangji infringed on someone's rights, or Ai Xiaodong breached the contract.
Although Ai Xiaodong and Shao Guangji had a good relationship, it wasn't good enough for Ai to take the blame for him and pay millions in compensation. Besides, he was already in a lawsuit with Xinkong Publishing House; adding this lawsuit would really make him a walking pile of legal documents.
And Shao Guangji...
The script for *The Heavenly Emperor* is basically finished. If it were to overlap with one or two other novels, Shao Guangji could still revise the script, add some padding, and get by. But if all the relevant content from the fifteen books is deleted, *The Heavenly Emperor* will be reduced to its original state, a lone stick, a leaky, unfinished house. Shao Guangji's efforts over the past few years will have been utterly wasted!
If Shao Guangji were to shamelessly pretend ignorance and insist on finishing the film, there would be even more room for maneuver.
If Shang Yechu had been more benevolent and sent a lawyer's letter demanding a halt to the infringement before the film's release, the film facing legal trouble would most likely have been shelved until five or six years later when Shang Yechu's copyright expired. However, with rapid technological advancements, the film wouldn't have been as impressive then.
If Shang Yechu had been more malicious and filed a lawsuit after the film's release, demanding compensation for lost revenue and the removal of the film from online platforms… then "The Heavenly Emperor" would be in serious trouble. Since it had already been released, pirated versions would naturally be available online. If the film were removed from online platforms, pirated versions would flood the market, and even those who initially refused to watch pirated versions would flock to them. When it were finally re-released, there would be no longer any momentum for a new film.
No wonder Shao Guangji lost his composure after hearing that Shang Yechu had purchased the copyright.
The author struggles to protect their rights because they are isolated and powerless. However, Shang Ye Chu has the entire Qingping Entertainment backing, with plenty of time and money to argue with Shao Guangji!
Shao Guangji couldn't understand how Ye Chu had so accurately targeted almost all the works he had pieced together. Could it be that the script of "The Heavenly Emperor" that ended up in Ye Chu's hands wasn't a fragment, but the complete version?
Even the complete version, if checked against Ai Xiaodong's original works one by one, would take a lot of time! Could it be that Shao Guangji really had a stroke of good luck, just happened to run into a die-hard Ai Xiaodong fan who had read all of Ai Xiaodong's works; and that the person just happened to get his script for "The Heavenly Emperor" and, by sheer bad luck, just happened to buy the copyrights to these novels?
It was practically a meticulously planned attack!
Shang Yechu didn't need to think to imagine Shao Guangji's current state of utter distress.
This is definitely targeted. Not only targeted, but also a threat.
In the entertainment industry, there are people like Zheng Bohan who can move audiences with their acting skills and understanding of their roles, people like Gu Wenhua who can seduce them with their emotions, and countless others who can be bought with money, sex, and power. Shao Guangji doesn't fall into any of these categories, making him especially difficult to target.
Shang Yechu thought about it for a very long time before sketching out this plan. He spent all the money he had earned in the past two years on it, and the results were exceptionally good.
Of course, this is unethical, somewhat disrespectful to a good director who genuinely wanted to make a good science fiction film, and even more disrespectful to such a rare and excellent script as "The Heavenly King".
But it is precisely because Shao Guangji is a good director and "The Heavenly Emperor" is such a good script that Ye Chu, a good actor, must work with them, right?
Shang Yechu smiled, a very happy smile, even a little smug. That's probably the expression a miser would have when he just closed a good deal.
"Teacher Shao," Shang Yechu mouthed to the air.
"Looking forward to working with you."
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