Chapter 506: Indenture

"New deputy editor-in-chief? New contract?"

Lin Qingshan asked with some confusion, "Daogui is still being serialized... What new contract do you want to sign..."

Generally speaking, the comic world will only re-sign contracts when the cartoonist is sure to serialize a new work.

Now that Daogui Yixian is still being serialized, what new contract do you want to sign with Lin Qingshan?

"It's a new contract about the follow-up cooperation with all the teachers."

Ito Ayumi said in a low voice at this time, "It was said before that the new management wants to make some changes, and the new contract proposed recently is..."

"I hope to sign a contract with the famous cartoonist himself, not just the work."

"Sign a contract with the famous cartoonist himself?"

Lin Qingshan immediately realized some of the meaning, but he was even more confused and asked curiously.

"Well, it's to sign a long-term contract. The decision-making power of the cartoonist's work sales copyright... will be fully authorized to our comic world."

Ito Ayumi said a little uneasily, "And the content of the teacher's new contract that I knew in advance is... a 50-year long-term contract. In these 50 years, the teacher's comic works belong to the company."

Fifty years?

All the works in the past fifty years will belong to the comic world?

Is he crazy or is the comic world crazy?

They actually gave such a contract. Are they planning to make Lin Qingshan their slave laborer?

Lin Qingshan, who is not mentally normal, feels a little speechless at this moment.

In fact, what Ito Ayumi didn't say is that although the comic world gave such a new contract, they still thought they gave quite high treatment accordingly.

For example, the original cartoonist's drawings were not worth much, only a few hundred to a thousand.

So the cartoonist's royalties are not much. For the real first-class cartoonists, the most important thing is the copyright fee from the sale.

The new deputy editor-in-chief of the comic world slapped his head and gave Lin Qingshan a new contract. Although we deprived you of the ownership and copyright decision-making rights of your works.

But we gave you a royalty of 20,000 yuan for each drawing!

How about it, the new contract is very good, right?

In this way, a weekly magazine like "Dao Wei Yi Xian" can get more than one million in royalties with 60-80 drawings per month!

However, Lin Qingshan is no longer the rookie cartoonist he was before. More than one million a month is nothing to him now.

It is impossible for him to earn more than the copyright of his works.

And the saying in the comic world is to sign people but not works, but to take both people and works.

And it is not just comic works, but also those animation works that Lin Qingshan is the original author of... According to this meaning, it also means that they should belong to them.

In fact, Lin Qingshan was right. The new deputy editor-in-chief of the comic world, Benya Rothschild, really thought so.

But he thought this was already a very good treatment for Lin Qingshan, at least... he was giving Lin Qingshan a share of the copyright sales!

Isn't this a big profit for Lin Qingshan?

I advise you not to be ungrateful and sign this new contract.

And after all, you are a rookie cartoonist discovered by the comic world. In other words, all your achievements now come from the comic world.

Without the discovery of the comic world, how could you become the uncrowned king among the new generation of cartoonists?

So he was very confident that Lin Qingshan would not be so ungrateful and would sign the new contract obediently.

Lin Qingshan did not know the mysterious and confident thoughts of the new deputy editor-in-chief, but he still planned to see what the other party was going to do.

Suddenly, he thought of Yang Dahai again and asked on the phone, "Where is Editor-in-Chief Yang? Does he have any objections?"

"Recently... the editor-in-chief is said to be on a business trip."

Ito Ayumi hesitated and said.

Editor-in-Chief... on a business trip?

Lin Qingshan immediately thought that something had happened to Yang Dahai.

"Teacher, when do you think you are free?"

Ito Ayumi waited for a long time and still asked hesitantly, "The deputy editor-in-chief plans to bring the legal department to your house to discuss the new contract with you."

"Emmmm... on the weekend."

Lin Qingshan thought for a while and said, "I am usually free on Sundays. In the evening... let's get together again."

"Okay... I'll tell the deputy editor-in-chief."

Ito Ayumi hung up the phone and said.

Not long after, Lin Qingshan received a reply from Ito Ayumi.

Deputy Editor-in-Chief Benya Rothschild will visit at noon this Sunday to discuss signing a new contract.

Since Ito Ayumi sent a message through a software, she also said a few more words to Lin Qingshan.

Ito Ayumi: Teacher, I think you should read this new contract carefully.

Ito Ayumi: The new deputy editor-in-chief was airdropped from above. He looks very approachable, but in fact, he is not easy to get along with.

Ito Ayumi: In fact, the severance of "God Clan" is said to be instructed by this deputy editor-in-chief...

Ito Ayumi sent three private messages in a row, which made Lin Qingshan feel that Ito Ayumi didn't seem to like the new deputy editor-in-chief.

And this name... Rothschild, the Rothschild family of squid?

Last time, Gu Qianli also said that it seems that the Rothschild family has acquired a lot of shares in the comic world in recent years.

And this name basically means that this new deputy editor-in-chief comes from this prominent squid merchant family.

As for the squid merchant, Lin Qingshan was a little wary.

Squid is very famous for its merchant attributes, almost synonymous with greed and snobbery.

Perhaps the words used to describe businessmen are suitable for describing squid.

That is——

When profits reach 10%, they will be ready to move.

When profits reach 50%, they will take risks.

When profits reach 100%, they dare to trample all laws in the world.

When profits reached 300%, they dared to risk hanging.

…

Squid has proven that this sentence to describe "them" is completely correct, and in a sense, it has vindicated a certain hair-washer.

Lin Qingshan is relatively objective, and he will not directly refuse contact because of stereotypes.

He still planned to talk to the new deputy editor from Squid.

In the evening, Lin Qingshan cooked a sumptuous table of home-cooked meals as usual, waiting for Gu Qianli to come home from get off work.

As soon as Gu Qianli returned home, she saw Lin Qingshan making a table of home-cooked dishes waiting for her as usual, and her heart suddenly warmed.

She looked at the home-cooked dishes on the table, which were very common chicken soup, braised fish, steamed fish and stir-fried cabbage sum, but they looked full of color, aroma, warmth and deliciousness.

The braised pork is tender and delicious, and the delicious sauce is mouth-watering. The steamed fish maintains its original flavor, the meat is tender and extremely delicious.

The stir-fried green vegetables are emerald green, crisp and fragrant.

The soup is rich, fragrant and steaming, and you can feel the warmth after just one sip.

"You're back."

Lin Qingshan took the initiative to help her ladle soup and rice.

"Well... I'm so tired after a day's work."

Gu Qianli sat down, breathed a sigh of relief and said with a smile.

Then Lin Qingshan mentioned what Ayumi Ito said today, and Gu Qianli suddenly frowned.

"Benya Rothschild?"

She frowned and said, "I know this person. His father is the current CEO of his family, and his brother is also a well-known investor."

Sure enough, is she a businessman with an extraordinary background?

This Lin Qingshan did not have any surprises.

He also talked about some of the contents of the new contract that Ayumi Ito said. When he mentioned that the comic industry wanted to sign him to a fifty-year contract and hoped to get the copyright ownership and decision-making rights...

"Are you crazy? What are they thinking?"

Gu Qianli said dissatisfiedly, "How is it possible to sign this kind of copyright contract?"

And this is a fifty-year long-term contract. How many fifty years can there be in life? Lin Qingshan is already in his thirties this year.

If I sign this contract, won't I have to work for the comic industry for the rest of my life?

Moreover, the ownership of copyright and the right to decide on copyright sales are too outrageous. So even if Lin Qingshan serves as the original animation creator in the future, the copyright of his works will also belong to the comic industry?

Suffice it to say, don’t be too outrageous.

"Squids are like this...but the comics world is indeed my talent."

Lin Qingshan said, "We can talk about it, but if it's too much, I definitely won't sign it."

"I will take weekend off and call our professional legal counsel at station C to see what they plan to do."

Gu Qianli also planned to follow Lin Qingshan to see what the new deputy editor-in-chief of the comics industry was talking about.

"Okay, no problem."

Lin Qingshan nodded.

…

And soon, it was the time agreed on on Sunday.

The professional legal team from Station C appeared at the villa of Lin Qingshan and Gu Qianli early in the morning.

This was considered extra overtime, and came with hefty bonuses and overtime pay. Lin Qingshan even made a sumptuous breakfast for them.

This flattered them a little.

At noon, the doorbell rang outside the villa.

Lin Qingshan and Gu Qianli immediately walked slowly to the door and opened it.

Then the first thing they saw was a young businessman with blond hair and blue eyes.

The first thing Lin Qingshan noticed was that this young businessman had a pair of sharp and deep eyes, as if he could see through other people's intentions at a glance.

But those eyes always sparkled with the desire for money and interests, like a hunter targeting his prey, calm and calculating. There is always a subtle and cunning smile on his eyebrows, as if he is always secretly thinking about something.

His golden eyebrows complemented his blond hair, making him look particularly shrewd.

The young businessman wears an expensive suit, always chooses the most luxurious brand of tie, and has precious diamonds on his shirt cuffs.

"Hello, Teacher Aoyama."

When he saw Lin Qingshan, he reached out his hand enthusiastically and said in fluent Chinese, "I am the new deputy editor-in-chief of the comics industry, Luo Ya. Please give me your advice."

"Roya? You..."

Lin Qingshan was stunned and was about to say something.

"I once studied Chinese at Jingfen and liked the culture of the Republic very much, so I named myself Luo Ya."

Benya Rothschild looked very kind and said enthusiastically.

However, Lin Qingshan always felt that every move he made revealed a pursuit of success and worship of wealth.

And his smile always has a hint of excessive enthusiasm, which makes people feel less sincere and more like a mask carefully designed for a certain purpose.

"Hello, I am Lin Qingshan, and this is my fiancée."

Lin Qingshan didn't know what to say, so he returned the favor and introduced.

"Hello, Mr. Gu, actually I would like to cooperate with Station C during this period."

Benya Rothschild smiled and said to Gu Qianli again.

"Hello."

Gu Qianli's performance cannot be said to be unenthusiastic, but rather cold.

But Benya Rothschild's eyes only flickered, and then he walked in with a smile and the comic legal team behind him and... Lin Qingshan's editor-in-chief Ayumi Ito.

After a little courtesy, Benya Rothschild finally talked about business with Lin Qingshan.

"Because of the achievements Mr. Qingshan has made during this period and the huge commercial value he has brought."

He smiled at Lin Qingshan and said, "So we are going to sign a new contract with the teacher. Teacher, what do you think... what does it mean?"

The legal team of Manjie Company immediately took out a very formal but somewhat heavy contract and placed it in front of Lin Qingshan.

But Gu Qianli said nothing, picked up the contract and read it with Lin Qingshan.

The content of the new contract... is very harsh.

Except that at the beginning, as she had guessed, it was a fifty-year contract to sell her body to both the person and the work.

Also, you must accept the contractual constraints of the comic industry, and you cannot suspend publication or stop updates at will.

Once this is signed, the contract will have mandatory legal effects. Lin Qingshan will be equivalent to a breach of contract at that time, and the liquidated damages for a breach of contract will reach 100 million!

Then there is the copyright ownership, which belongs to the comics industry. Lin Qingshan will only be a "comic assistant" hired by the comics industry to assist in creation.

Terms have even been added to works other than comics.

When cooperating with others to produce other types of works under the pen name "Qingshan", all copyrights belonging to the pen name belong to the comic industry.

Of course, this contract is not purely a lion's mouth. It also mentioned the treatment for Lin Qingshan.

In addition to the drawing fee of at least one million a month, the copyright share has actually been increased, and any new work can be serialized unconditionally.

There is no need to ask the editor-in-chief or Ayumi Ito to read the first three chapters or so of the manuscript as before.

But it can be said that these are dispensable to Lin Qingshan now.

Finally, Gu Qianli also saw a requirement, that is, he needed to create three comics in accordance with the requirements of the comic industry.

This weird request is just plain weird.

At this time, Benya Rothschild smiled and said to Lin Qingshan, "Actually, Teacher Qingshan, I have always liked your works, especially works such as "Chainsaw Man" and "EVA"."

"Teacher Qingshan, he must be a devout believer in the Holy Lord. As the chosen ones of the God beloved by the Holy Lord, we squids like comics like "Chainsaw Man" the most."