MMB Chapter 111 The Penguin Siege
Chapter 111 The Penguin Siege
Fiyta Building, Nanshan District, Shenzhen.
In the core conference room of the Penguin Empire, Pony Ma, the usually mild-mannered head of Penguin, was staring at the data reports on the projection screen with a livid face.
On either side of the conference table, the senior executives in charge of Tencent Entertainment's ecosystem remained silent, trembling with fear.
"Can someone explain to me what's going on?"
Pony Ma suppressed his anger, his fingers slamming heavily on the two reports on the table. "I've already let go of the Penguin Weibo debacle. But QQ Music and QQLive—that's our core business, built up over many years!"
"Why have their market share and active users plummeted in the past two months?! They're almost becoming a laughing stock in the industry!"
The vice president in charge of QQ Music wiped the cold sweat from his forehead and stood up with a stiff upper lip.
"Mr. Ma... it's really not our brothers' fault for not working hard enough; it's just that Haofeng Network's tactics are too ruthless!"
"That Li Feng, for some reason, went crazy about half a year ago and took tens of millions of yuan in cash to buy out all the exclusive digital music online rights for singers like Jay Chou, Wang Lihong, Lin Junjie, David Tao, as well as Wang Fei and Chen Yixun!"
The vice president's voice was tinged with frustration: "These young netizens nowadays only listen to a few top artists! They've discovered that none of these artists' songs can be played on QQ Music, so they have to download 'Soda Music,' a subsidiary of Haofeng Network! They've completely ripped out our users!"
Immediately afterwards, the manager in charge of QQLive video business also stood up with a bitter face.
"Mr. Ma, the situation on the video side is even worse. Haofeng's iQiyi not only surpasses us in picture quality and clarity, but more importantly, they hold the permanent exclusive broadcasting rights to over 90% of classic and popular dramas online!"
"These days, if netizens want to watch 'Lurking,' 'Chinese Paladin 3,' 'iPartment,' or even Japanese anime, they can only go to iQiyi and Bilibili! Our QQLive library is completely empty; users simply aren't buying it!"
Upon hearing the reports from the two executives, Pony Ma closed his eyes and took a deep breath.
It wasn't until this moment that the helmsman of the internet penguin empire finally realized what was going on!
Copyright! Exclusive copyright!
Long before anyone realized that the wave of copyright protection was about to arrive, that young man named Li Feng had already built an impenetrable wall of sighs in the film and music industries with rock-bottom prices!
He wasn't buying quantity, but rather the most crucial and decisive factor that determined whether netizens stayed or left: "one percent"!
"The tragedy of Tencent Weibo must never be repeated in our core entertainment sector!"
Pony suddenly opened his eyes, his gaze revealing the sharp killing intent of a giant awakened from his trance.
Since Haofeng Network wants to strangle Tencent with copyright, then Tencent will use its massive capital and legal expertise to tear this network apart!
"Notify the legal department!"
Pony Ma issued a decisive order for a counterattack: "Immediately file a formal lawsuit against Haofeng Network in the Nanshan District Court!"
"Sue them for unfair competition! Sue them for using exclusive copyrights to monopolize the industry! Apply for a court injunction to force them to terminate the exclusive licensing agreement and allow cross-licensing!"
Go to court?
In Nanshan, Tencent's legal department has never been afraid of anyone! As long as they can drag out the lawsuit and freeze Haofeng's copyright through litigation preservation, Tencent can catch its breath!
"Not only must we fight the lawsuit, but we must also launch a full-scale counterattack on the business side!"
Pony's gaze swept over the crowd, displaying the power of a top-tier crocodile.
"The name QQLive is too unrecognizable! Starting today, it will be officially renamed [Penguin Video]!"
"The group will immediately allocate 500 million RMB as a special fund to establish the Tencent Internet Film and Television Fund!"
"Haofeng controls the copyrights to old dramas? Then let's buy the rights to new ones! Contact Huayi Brothers, Bona Film Group, and Hairun Media! No matter what big productions they're about to make, throw money at them and snatch the exclusive broadcasting rights for all their future dramas!"
"And music copyrights too!"
Pony Ma looked at the vice president of QQ Music: "Li Feng signed the new Four Heavenly Kings? Then you take the money and go to Hong Kong! Go and buy all the copyrights to the classic songs of the Four Heavenly Kings, including Zhang Xueyou and Andy Lau! We absolutely cannot let QQ Music have a monopoly!"
……
Two days later.
Jinling, Xianlin Science and Technology City, Haofeng Network Headquarters Building.
In the top-floor CEO's office, Li Feng looked at the lawyer's letter on the table, bearing the penguin logo and sent by the Nanshan District Court of Shenzhen, and a disdainful smile curled at the corner of his mouth.
"Boss, Tencent is really going to sue us for monopoly." Zhang Xinyu stood aside, looking at the lawyer's letter, her brows furrowed with worry.
"It's normal to get anxious. If this penguin doesn't struggle when its lifeline is being held, then Pony Ma has wasted all these years in the internet industry." Li Feng remained completely calm.
At that moment, the office door was pushed open, and the legal director of Haofeng Network, who had been assembled with high salaries, walked in confidently with several top intellectual property litigation lawyers in the industry.
"Mr. Li!"
The general counsel placed several prepared response plans on the table, a confident smile on his face.
"We were already on guard against Penguin's 'Nanshan Inevitable Victory' tactic!"
"First of all, there's the issue of court jurisdiction! They filed the case in Nanshan District, Shenzhen, but Haofeng's registered headquarters are in Nanjing!"
The general counsel, his eyes sharp, said, "Our legal department will file a jurisdictional objection with the Nanshan Court first thing tomorrow morning! We're requesting that the case be transferred to the place where the infringement occurred and where the defendant is located—that is, the Jinling Intermediate People's Court!"
"If the Nanshan Court insists on stubbornly holding us back, we'll appeal to the Provincial High Court, and even the Supreme Court, to see what happens!"
"As long as this case can be filed in Nanjing, given Haofeng's current tax revenue and key protection status in the province, that powerful dragon Tencent will definitely not be able to suppress us, the local snake!"
Hearing the general counsel's firm statement, Li Feng nodded in satisfaction.
The strategic foresight of moving the headquarters from Shenzhen to Nanjing was fully demonstrated at this moment.
With Nanjing as its "home ground," a place that is absolutely fair and even slightly favored, Tencent has no chance of playing any underhanded tricks!
"Jurisdiction is one aspect, but what about the legal principles behind the case itself?" Li Feng asked, leaning back in his chair.
"Mr. Li, you don't need to worry about that at all!"
Another senior lawyer chuckled and retorted, "Tencent suing us for monopoly is completely unfounded legally! It's utterly ridiculous!"
"We did sign top stars like Zhou Xun, Wang Ziyi, Tao Yuanming, and Lin Chengdong, and iQiyi also bought a lot of hit dramas. But!"
The lawyer held up one finger and stated emphatically, "Looking at the overall data, the total number of music tracks and film/television series we control accounts for less than one percent of the entire Chinese entertainment market!"
"The core of the Anti-Monopoly Law's definition of monopoly is the absolute percentage of market share! Our share is less than 1%, so what makes us a monopoly?!"
This is the brilliance of Li Feng in only buying "core quality" content and not buying low-quality copyrights!
I only account for 1% of the total, but that 1% attracts 99% of the traffic!
This is called sharp business acumen, this is called precise investment! It has absolutely nothing to do with legal monopoly!
"If this lawsuit were filed in Nanshan District, they might be able to smooth things over and use some disgusting litigation preservation measures to delay the process."
The general counsel confidently concluded, "But if this lawsuit is fought here in Nanjing, I'd stake my lawyer's license on it—Tencent will definitely lose! We're guaranteed to win!"
As he listened to the legal team's impeccable response strategy, Li Feng's smile gradually widened.
"it is good."
Li Feng threw the penguin's lawyer's letter into the nearby trash can.
"Since they want to fight, let's play along and have some fun!"
"Go and fight! Fight them to the death over jurisdiction and procedures! Stretch the battle out! I can afford to fight for eight or ten years!"
After seeing the legal team off, Zhang Xinyu finally breathed a sigh of relief.
"Boss, I heard that Tencent has really gone all out this time. They've allocated 500 million yuan in film and television funds to buy new dramas from Huayi Brothers, and they even went to Hong Kong to buy the music copyrights of the Four Heavenly Kings," Zhang Xinyu reported.
"Five hundred million?"
Li Feng scoffed dismissively.
"Pony Ma is ultimately a product person; he doesn't understand what real fan economy is at all."
"Go buy tickets for the Four Heavenly Kings? The Four Heavenly Kings are indeed legendary, but their audience has long since settled down and started families. Who has the time to spend every day online arguing with people, battling for chart positions, and boosting daily active users? The real main force of internet consumption is the post-90s generation who grew up listening to Jay Chou and Xu Song!"
"As for spending 500 million to buy a new drama..."
Li Feng walked to the floor-to-ceiling window and looked out at the bustling Xianlin Science and Technology City.
"Five hundred million now sounds like a lot."
"In two years, when major video websites are fighting tooth and nail for exclusive broadcasting rights, and the copyright fee for a single hit drama can soar to tens or even hundreds of millions, he'll realize that his mere 500 million isn't even enough to buy a ticket to the future copyright war!"