Chapter 462 - Only so much! (1/2)

Chapter 462: Only so much!

What?

It was settled?

The compensation was agreed upon? And he would immediately send the money?

Upon hearing Zhang Ye say that, the youth from the publis.h.i.+ng firm was momentarily stunned. ”Ah? Oh, alright.”

He really had not expected Zhang Ye to agree to pay the compensation so easily. He didn't even bargain at all. It was something beyond his imagination. He had handled so many copyright disputes and lawsuits while working in the publis.h.i.+ng firm, and he never encountered such an easy case like today. He had even spoken with a tough voice when he made the phone call, and even made it clear that things weren't looking good. He had even mentioned things like lawyers and suing him in court. He was guessing that Zhang Ye would not give any compensation, and wanted to take a forceful stance from the beginning, but who knew the outcome would be as such. The youth could not help but shudder!

Could this be some scam?

Could it be a perfunctory act?

The youth immediately reported it to his publis.h.i.+ng firm's leader.

Zhang Kui, the Editor-in-Chief of Beijing Education Publis.h.i.+ng Firm, was personally responsible for this matter himself. When he heard the youth say so, he felt disbelief. ”Zhang Ye really said that?”

The youth gave a wry smile. ”Yes, those were his original words.”

Zhang Kui frowned. ”He did not even bargain at all?”

The youth acknowledged. ”He asked how much it was and immediately agreed to it. He didn't even hesitate for a second.”

”Alright, then go make up the contract. List the line stating the breach of contract and then send it to Zhang Ye.” Zhang Kui was not sure of it too, and was full of doubt.

There was a female a.s.sistant editor in the room. ”Our publis.h.i.+ng firm has offended Zhang Ye this time. Actually, we did not lose money from 'Ghost Blows Out the Light' and those fairy tales, and in fact, made a lot for our publis.h.i.+ng firm. Although all of Zhang Ye's books are to be taken off the shelves, and there will be losses from future sales while the printed books can't be dealt with, but those books like 'Ghost Blows Out the Light' were sold last year. The market is pretty much saturated, and even if we kept selling it, we would only earn a little bit. It won't hurt us at all.”

Another person-in-charge of the publis.h.i.+ng firm said, ”Even if it wouldn't hurt us, it is still considered a loss. It is all the public's money, and with the contract, there has to be someone answering to it.”

The female a.s.sistant editor said, ”I thought Zhang Ye would not agree to it, so we had proposed a high amount of compensation, so as to give room for it to be bargained in court. If we were compensated for a million eventually, it would be pretty good, but what was Zhang Ye thinking? He immediately agreed to it? In this way, it made it seem like our publis.h.i.+ng firm is the wicked one.”

She was more sensitive, and did not feel good about this. Back when Zhang Ye chose their publis.h.i.+ng firm, the buyout price was only 6 million. Excluding tax, it was only about 5 million. And now, Zhang Ye had to compensate them 3.5 million? After this exchange, it was equivalent to Zhang Ye's novel and those fairy tales being given to their publis.h.i.+ng firm nearly for free. The sales of ”Ghost Blows Out the Light” had rapidly hit a million and then two million. There were numerous peers in the industry who envied them. Those publis.h.i.+ng firms failed to obtain Zhang Ye's rights even if they wanted it. As they were the first to contact Zhang Ye, they had been working together all along. Zhang Ye also trusted them greatly.

But now, with the current situation, she felt quite helpless about the publis.h.i.+ng firm's decision. She felt that they were stabbing Teacher Zhang Ye in the back in his most difficult times. It was adding injury to insult!

As Editor-in-Chief, Zhang Kui did not feel too good either, but after some thought, he stopped worrying over it. If it were any other authors, they would definitely not offend them in such a manner. A publis.h.i.+ng firm depended on authors to survive, especially those authors who produced best sellers. They were competed for by publis.h.i.+ng firms, but Zhang Ye was different. With the SARFT's #43 decree out, everyone knew Zhang Ye was completely finished. His books could no longer be published. Even changing his pen name would be useless. No matter how good his works were, it would be useless. With the ban in place, the news and publication board had merged with the SARFT a long time ago. Although there were some divisions internally after the two boards merged, they were still considered a team. With the highest authorities in the publis.h.i.+ng industry announcing it, as subordinates, they had to act upon it. Hence, it resulted in this compensation incident.

However, 3.5 million was indeed a bit too much.

But after an hour, after the contract was done, Zhang Ye's 3.5 million compensation for the breach of contract was punctually transferred into the publis.h.i.+ng firm's account.

The female editor turned silent.

Zhang Kui and the other person-in-charge of the publis.h.i.+ng firm also did not feel good for some reason. 3.5 million could do a lot for the publis.h.i.+ng firm. It could buy the rights to many books, yet for some reason, they could not smile.

......

A similar scene happened at another publis.h.i.+ng firm.