My capital is quite large.

Chapter 310 Ultraman's Copyright Dispute

With the signing of the contract, a young man arrived at Haofeng Film and Television.

However, the addition of newcomer Zhang Ruonan did not cause much of a stir online.

After all, at this time she was just a newly signed amateur, a newcomer with no famous works or background, so naturally she wouldn't attract any attention.

However, in the eyes of directors and actors in the Chinese entertainment industry, the information of any new female artist signed by Haofeng Film and Television needs to be filed immediately.

People who work in the Chinese entertainment industry are all incredibly perceptive.

Haofeng's dominant position in the entertainment industry is now unshakeable. No one can say for sure whether this pure and innocent girl, who was specially brought back by Secretary Zhang, will become the new love of that Chairman Li in the future.

As you can see, even top-tier celebrities like that man and Li Moufeng, who are at the height of their popularity and have countless fans, have struggled to gain recognition.

Whenever someone receives an award at a major awards ceremony, is the first thing they say on stage always the same: "Thank you, Mr. Li, for recognizing my talent and support?"

In this era where capital reigns supreme, even the head of Tencent Video has to bow respectfully and address Li Feng as "President Li."

After all, you're not Pony Ma.

However, just as people in the industry were still speculating about the background of this newcomer, a bombshell news story that could be described as magical suddenly exploded on the Internet, drawing the attention of the entire network from entertainment gossip to the forefront of capital games.

A Guangzhou-based company called Qi'ao Tianzun held a high-profile press conference to announce that they had obtained the exclusive Ultraman license from Thailand's UM company in the Dongda region.

Immediately afterwards, they filed a lawsuit against Haofeng Group in court!

The reason is very simple: the Haofeng Animation and Film Base, which Haofeng is building, plans to use classic images of Ultraman from the Showa era, such as the original Ultraman, Seven, Jack, Ace, and Taro.

Qi Ao Tianzun believes this constitutes a serious infringement and is therefore seeking 100 million RMB in damages from Haofeng Group!

"One hundred million?"

When the news broke, countless netizens were filled with questions.

"Where did this 'Australian Celestial Venerable' come from? He's gone mad with money, asking for a hundred million right off the bat?"

"They've tried to stage an accident with Haofeng. Do they really think Li Feng is an easy target?"

Despite the overwhelming ridicule and doubts from the outside world, the lawyer representing Aotianzun appeared extremely confident.

In an interview with reporters, he responded very seriously to the calculation logic of this claim amount:

"The claim of 100 million yuan is based on a scientific calculation of the current market valuation of Haofeng Animation and Film Base, which is currently valued at over 40 billion yuan by outsiders. The base consists of two parts: a film and television city and an animation city, with the animation city having a very high valuation weight."

"In our law firm's internal assessment, Ultraman, as a world-class IP, accounts for at least one percent of the commercial weight of the entire base, and the image of Showa-era Ultraman accounts for half of that weight. In other words, our lawsuit today seeking 100 million yen in damages is a very restrained price."

The logic behind this calculation amused netizens.

Although no one thought this small Guangzhou company with a market value of less than 100 million yuan could win, it has to be admitted that the logic and audacity of the other party's attempt to extort money were truly eye-opening.

"You've got guts! I'm rooting for you. You dared to ask Boss Li for 100 million. Win or lose, you've made a name for yourself."

"This is a real case of a snake trying to swallow an elephant; Haofeng probably wouldn't even bother to blink at you."

Sure enough, Haofeng Group responded just a few hours later.

Moreover, Haofeng's response was faster and more forceful than anyone had anticipated.

They ignored the lawyer's letter from Qi Ao Tian Zun and did not engage in any verbal sparring. Instead, they published a scanned copy of the original contract online through Hao Feng Legal Affairs' official account.

That was a permanent exclusive copyright agreement between Haofeng Group and Tsuburaya Productions Co., Ltd. for the Ultraman series in the Tokyo area.

Not only that, Haofeng also showed off the original of a perpetual licensing contract that included several top Japanese anime IPs.

The meaning is self-evident: within the territory of Dongda University, Haofeng is the sole legal agent and owner of these IPs.

As for how I want to build and use the animation and film base, that's my own right.

Just when netizens thought the situation was settled and were mocking the Australian "conspirator" for his "failed attempt to extort money," the other party dropped a second bombshell half an hour later, catching everyone off guard.

Through official channels, Aotianzun has released the original copy of the Sinbot contract, the exclusive authorization letter from Thailand's UM company, and a historically significant legal document.

In 2004, Tsuburaya Productions lost the final judgment in the Guangdong-Guangxi Intermediate People's Court.

The caption accompanying the message from the Australian Celestial Venerable was only one sentence, yet every word was piercing:

"Tsuburaya Productions has never owned the legal copyright for Showa-era Ultraman series in the Tokyo metropolitan area."

This immediately energized netizens who initially thought it was just a simple case of extortion. Legal bloggers and historical researchers jumped in and dug up this long-forgotten, magical copyright history overnight.

It turns out that back in 1976, when Tsuburaya Productions was facing a severe financial crisis, then-president Sho Tsuburaya signed a bilingual (Chinese and English) document with Thai businessman Sinpot.

The document grants Shinbo the exclusive right to use and authorship the Ultraman series, from the original Ultraman to Ultraman 80, in nine countries and regions outside of the Showa era, for its entire lifetime.

This contract is the Sinpot contract that later plagued Tsuburaya Productions for decades.

After recovering from the crisis, Tsuburaya Productions insisted that the president's signature on the contract was forged by Sinbot and filed lawsuits in multiple countries around the world.

In the lengthy transnational litigation, the judgments in different regions were extremely divergent:

In 1997, the Thai Supreme Court ruled that the power of attorney claimed by Sinbol was forged, but this was only a criminal judgment and did not resolve the ownership of civil copyright.

In 2003, the Tokyo District Court ruled in favor of Tsuburaya Productions, finding that Shinbo had forged a contract and that Tsuburaya was the sole owner of the Ultraman copyright. This ruling took effect immediately in Tsuburaya's home country.

However, the most crucial turning point occurred on the Dongda battlefield.

In 2004, within the jurisdiction of the University of Tokyo, the Guangdong and Guangxi local courts, in hearing a civil lawsuit between Tsuburaya Productions and the licensor of Ultraman, ultimately ruled in favor of Ultraman, recognizing that Ultraman held the copyright to the relevant Ultraman works in the University of Tokyo area.

Although Tsuburaya appealed, the appeal was rejected in the final instance in 2005.

As these historical documents were exposed, onlookers gradually realized something was amiss.

Even though Tsuburaya Productions won in small-scale legal battles and had a good run-up in other international cases, it was clear that Tsuburaya lost its case in 2004 in the University of Tokyo's legal ruling!

Based on the principle of double jeopardy and the independence of the University of Tokyo's judicial sovereignty, at least within the University of Tokyo's market, the legal copyright of Showa Ultraman still belongs to the Shinbo lineage, not Tsuburaya Productions.

The license that Haofeng holds was purchased from Tsuburaya Productions.

Looking at the gleaming 2004 final judgment from Guangdong and Guangxi, netizens across the internet were momentarily at a loss for words.

Is Haofeng about to crash and burn?