Chapter 331 Some Things About Copyright

In a crowded place like New York's Central Park, it's obviously not a good idea to meet and talk with Captain America. And Li Jie's food truck is still open.

So after handing Rogers the hamburger and onion rings he ordered. Li Jie said. "Okay, Captain. But this isn't a good place to talk, maybe we should go somewhere else."

Li Jie didn't expect that when he was still in Dongyang, Iron Fist specifically said something when he left, Captain Rogers needed to find something to do with Nightcrawler.

But now Li Jie's nightcrawler side hasn't met the captain yet. Instead, the captain came to see him first. Of course, this is not because he knows that Li Jie is a night crawler.

Instead, they simply came to find Li Jie, a senior high school student, a part-time chef, the owner of Marvel Comics, and Li Jie, a senior consultant of the Osborne Group.

Although Captain Rogers was a little eager to find Li Jie, Li Jie still set the specific meeting time for this weekend at ten o'clock in the morning.

The meeting place was chosen at the headquarters of Marvel Comics in Queens.

"Welcome to visit, Captain Rogers!" Steve Rogers arrived at Li Jie's company on time. Li Jie was waiting for his arrival in his office early this morning.

"Thank you for taking the time to meet me, Mr. Li." Rogers nodded to Li Jie and exchanged greetings.

"Oh, you're welcome. You have to know that you are an idol in this country. No one will refuse to have a good chat with Captain America." Li Jie smiled at Rogers.

"Then, with the busy work of Captain Rogers, he can still spare time to come to our comic company. If you have something to ask me, you can get straight to the point." Li Jie gestured to Rogers, signaling him not to be polite.

"If we can do it, I'd be happy to help."

Rogers sat across from Li Jie's desk, and he rubbed his hands with crossed hands. "Has Mr. Li watched TV recently, news about S.H.I.E.L.D.?"

Li Jie pondered for a while. "Maybe it's not very polite, but the recent news about S.H.I.E.L.D. is not very friendly. You know the captain. For example, an agent tricked the mercenary into completing the tasks he was supposed to do, and was owed wages or something."

Rogers sighed, this kind of thing is too embarrassing to say. "Yeah, S.H.I.E.L.D. is in a bind right now. We're a little tight financially. Even the free coffee and donuts are gone right now."

Regarding the financial difficulties of S.H.I.E.L.D., in fact, even Rogers didn't tell Li Jie. It can't be concealed for long at all, and some keen reporters have already smelled the smell inside. So Rogers has nothing to hide, which is no longer a secret.

"Oh, I'm sorry, Captain." Li Jie remembered what Rogers said just now, and he hadn't prepared coffee for Rogers who came in, which was a bit impolite.

"We provide free coffee for employees here. So would the captain want a cup? There are two choices of black coffee and milk coffee." Li Jie asked.

"Thank you, black coffee."

"By the way, we also provide free donuts here. How many do you want, captain? They are directly supplied by the best bread made in New York."

"Thank you, let's have one too."

"What flavor do you like. Chocolate, blueberry, raspberry, or ice cream."

The strength of Rogers rubbing his hands became a little stronger. "Any old-fashioned frosting?"

"Ah~ah! Yes." Li Jie thought for a while and was sure. He pressed the phone button on his desk and asked the office assistant outside his door to bring him coffee and donuts. "Get a cup of black coffee and a couple of frosted donuts."

The secretary on the phone. "Frosted donuts, head, you mean the least popular, worst kind?"

Li Jie: "That's right." Rogers felt his throat tighten.

"Are you sure, head?"

"I'm sure! Bring it in quickly." Rogers felt that it was better not to eat the donut. But Li Jie quickly hung up the phone, not giving Rogers a chance to refuse.

"So, where did we talk about Captain? Oh! That's right. About the funds of SHIELD." Li Jie looked embarrassed. "Captain, you know, we're just a small company, and it's impossible to fund a large government agency like S.H.I.E.L.D. First of all, it's illegal. Plus we don't have that much money. Maybe Tony Stark would like to help?"

Li Jie dumped the blame on his old friend Tony Stark.

"I understand, so that's not what I'm here for." When Rogers spoke, the office assistant had already delivered coffee and donuts. Seeing the frosted donut in front of him, Rogers decided not to pick it up and eat it.

"Where did I know about your company from Iron Fist and Blade? You bought their copyright? Adapted into a hero comic?"

"Yes Captain, I always think that superheroes are role models for this society. They do positive things and fight evil. These deserve a lot of publicity. And heroes can get hurt and die. Superheroes are not a regular salary. Work. Hmm? Maybe except the Avengers." Li Jie looked at Rogers and said.

"So I bought the copyright of these heroes and published their comics. Let their heroic deeds spread widely, set an example for everyone, and at the same time, I can also distribute some copyright income to them."

"For example, Iron Fist and Blade and I signed a share agreement with both of them. Their comics sell well, and he can get a lot of copyright share. From January this year to the present four months, Iron Fist and Blade I have already paid them 200,000 US dollars in royalties. As long as they continue to be heroes and continue to fight against villains and increase their popularity, their comic sales will increase in the future, and their share will also increase." Li Jie Generally speaking, the income of the company's copyright.

Blade and Iron Fist were not very popular in the public eye before, and the sales of comics were only average, so the royalties were not high. Now the best-selling Marvel series is the "Spider-Man" series, and the second-ranked "Nightcrawler" series.

The royalties paid to Peter Parker have accumulated to more than one million US dollars, and peripheral animation peripheral manufacturers have begun to negotiate agency matters. It is foreseeable that Peter's future income will be astronomical.

The story design of the Spider-Man series is relatively sunny, and it caters to all ages. The stories of the Nightcrawler series are set by the editor-in-chief to be thick and dark, and are stories for adults, so sales are not as good as Spider-Man.

Rogers nodded. "Although your current company is not large, I like your philosophy, so I came to you."

Li Jie raised his eyebrows. "How to say."

"You know, Hawkeye has been in trouble lately. He needs some money, so he wants to sell his image rights, and without mentioning the secrets of S.H.I.E.L.D., he can provide some stories of the battles he has been in. As a material for comic adaptation." Rogers poured out his real intention.

But Li Jie shook his head when he heard this. "With all due respect to the captain, Agent Hawkeye Barton. It's been very popular recently. But none of his news is positive. To be honest, I don't even dare to let the image of Hawkeye appear in any of our company's comics , not even a cameo. Not to mention his one-man comics."

"Now the Internet is full of scolding, about the fact that he withheld Deadpool's commission. Someone has already shouted that S.H.I.E.L.D. should fire this scum." Li Jie said the truth, so Rogers could not refute it.

"At least in the last one or two years, the name Hawkeye is worthless. Not only is it worthless, it will even lower the company's sales." Li Jie spread his hands and said that the name Hawkeye has been completely stigmatized by Deadpool.

"So it can't be sold?" Rogers was a little disappointed. He is ready to leave.

"It's not impossible. There is a kind of investment called pre-investment. I believe that Hawkeye's reputation will come back." Li Jie thought that as soon as the Battle of New York broke out, even if Hawkeye fell into the ink hole before, he would be able to clear his name.

"However, in terms of royalties, it is impossible to be like Iron Fist and Blade." Li Jie first gave Captain Rogers a vaccination.

"So how much can there be?" Rogers knew that Hawkeye was about to be crushed by Deadpool, and now he just wanted to get the money early to send Deadpool away.

"One million dollars." Li Jie smiled.

"One million?" Rogers was a little surprised.

"One million dollars, I can pay in one lump sum. But I have to buy all the copyrights of Hawkeye for the next ten years, including figure peripherals, and even big movies and games that will be launched in the future. In the next ten years, these incomes will be I will not give Hawkeye any more royalties." Li Jie said that he is not completely doing good deeds.

"After all, the name Hawkeye will be useless in the next two or three years. It will take a lot of time and energy to run it."

Rogers pondered for a while, and he didn't know whether Li Jie's condition was good or not. He decided to go home first and ask Hawkeye for his opinion.

"Actually, Captain Rogers is the real star of S.H.I.E.L.D. compared to Hawkeye." Li Jie took a sip of black coffee, picked up a frosted donut and took a bite.

Captain Rogers, who was still thinking about it, asked with some doubts as he saw Li Jie. "What?"

Li Jie ate the donuts in three mouthfuls and patted the frosting powder left on his hands. "Do you know how much Coca-Cola spent this year to put Captain America's Steve Rogers on the packaging of their Coke bottles?"

"What?" Rogers was at a loss, he couldn't figure out what Li Jie was talking about.

Li Jie looked at Rogers' confused look and smiled helplessly. "30 million U.S. dollars, this is just one year's endorsement fee. But I don't think this money should have entered your account, right, Captain Rogers."