Chapter 489: Further Release of Copyrights

Chapter 489: Further Release of Copyrights

"What's wrong?"

Wang Yanan and the others had come along as well; the tickets Meng Fan obtained were a small perk for a few members of Damei Studio. The studio had been very busy lately, and this time, besides the tickets, all expenses including airfare and hotel were fully covered.

Seeing Wu Tong stunned, Wang Yanan leaned over for a look and was also taken aback, then couldn't help laughing: "Is this rigged?"

Wang Yanan knew it couldn't be rigged—what kind of lives did these two lead? There was no need for such a scheme. It was just that their luck left her at a loss for words.

Wu Tong spread her hands and smiled: "I don't know either. I've never won anything before. This is the first time."

Wang Yanan pointed at Meng Fan on stage and said, "You've never won? Isn't that prize up there big enough?"

Zhang Zhouwei, who had tagged along on the "public-funded trip," was quite "unconvinced" and said, "I think when Meng Fatty met Wu Tong, it was Meng Fatty who won the lottery!" Then he turned to Wang Yanan and added, "Look at me—why don't I ever win? Am I unlucky? No, I used to be really lucky! But after meeting you, my luck turned bad, because all my life's luck was used up meeting you!"

Wang Yanan rolled her eyes, unsure whether this was survival instinct or pure cheesiness.

Upon hearing this, Wu Tong thought seriously and confirmed that Meng Fan's luck hadn't worsened after meeting her—on the contrary, it had improved. She didn't want it to be like Zhang Zhouwei's joke that Meng Fan had used up a lifetime of luck to meet her; instead, she hoped everything would become better for him after meeting her.

Yes, it had indeed become better!

But not "so good it couldn't be better." In Wu Tong's view, Meng Fan could still improve further. He had the ability to be better, and she believed she too would have the capability to have him like that.

Perhaps it was telepathy—when Wu Tong looked up at Meng Fan, she met his gaze, and he winked at her. Well, it still warmed her heart.

To be honest, Wu Tong was relatively immune to Meng Fan's "good looks"; otherwise, that wink could have caused trouble. And indeed, many girls at the scene screamed at that wink, even though it clearly wasn't aimed at them. If it had been directed their way, they'd have been on their knees.

On stage, Meng Fan naturally saw the list of winners. Though full names weren't displayed, he immediately recognized one as Wu Tong. To be honest, he was a bit surprised—he didn't know if his own lucky attribute had worked or if Wu Tong was just lucky herself.

After the lottery interlude, it was time for Meng Fan's solo performance—two songs, both from *Spirits Underground*, one of which wasn't his original. Meng Fan wasn't much of a stage presence; he just stood and sang normally, no dancing or anything. Though there was a dance group, there was no interaction.

Of course, if you wanted to call that lack of stage presence a stage presence, you could.

The two songs weren't performed in full, as the gala had limited time. Meng Fan singing one duet and two solos already made him the performer with the most stage time among the cast. It was a medley of the two songs, interwoven, with arrangement by Jin Xiaowen—the effect was quite impressive.

After the Double Eleven gala ended, Shi Shiwu only then noticed that Wu Tong and the others had come. His idea of dragging Meng Fan for a gaming session died, and alone, he suddenly lost interest. He decided to head back early to sleep. Then, as soon as he stepped out, he got a call from a streamer, and with a chuckle, he headed off to an internet café.

The next day, November 11th, Meng Fan didn't return directly to Hangzhou but went to Penguin Animation Network—the Double Eleven gala was still held in Shenzhen. Wang Yanan and the others accompanied him. This time, besides discussing matters related to the Animation Mountains and Seas Award, Meng Fan also came to bring business to Damei Studio.

The members of Damei Studio had expanded at the beginning of the year. After the summer vacation—actually after the Olympics—the number more than doubled from the expanded base, now exceeding one hundred.

Business at Damei Studio was going very smoothly. Besides orders from government units, many media companies in Hangzhou and elsewhere had handed over hand-drawn posters and other painting jobs—Damei Studio's business was no longer limited to animation; many members specialized in other types of painting.

With more members, high efficiency, and rapid expansion of business scope, orders from just Hangzhou alone could no longer satisfy Damei Studio. Before this, Qin Jiao had already made initial contact with Penguin Animation Network through Yixin, and there was a preliminary intention to cooperate. This time, Wang Yanan came as a representative with Meng Fan for further negotiations.

Meng Fan didn't participate in Wang Yanan's talks with the person in charge at Penguin Animation Network. He had to meet with those responsible for the Animation Mountains and Seas Award, finalize some details, and then went to the editor-in-chief's office. There, besides the editor-in-chief, others were present. After sitting down and chatting for a while, they got down to business, mainly discussing the partial copyright development of *Strange People of Mountains and Seas*.

So far, aside from the publishing rights that had been utilized, the other copyrights of *Strange People of Mountains and Seas* remained "idle." Although most of these copyrights were held by Meng Fan, Penguin Animation Network was still very attentive. In the era of IP economy, the IP value of *Strange People of Mountains and Seas* was extremely high, and its author Meng Fan himself was a huge IP. Penguin Animation Network naturally wanted to get a piece of the action.

Previously, some copyrights of *Strange People of Mountains and Seas* had been licensed to Penguin Animation Network, but none had been truly activated or operated. They were waiting for the right moment, preferably to acquire more copyrights for cross-promotion.

This time, Meng Fan was also prepared to release another portion of the copyrights. Major items like film, TV, and games would be retained for now, but everything else was negotiable.

Penguin Animation Network was sincere, and Meng Fan was willing to release rights. Thus, the negotiations went quite smoothly. Cooperation was primarily based on "revenue sharing," mostly non-buyout agreements, though there were also limited-scope buyout deals—for example, using characters from *Strange People of Mountains and Seas* as "advertising" images for a specific event under Penguin Animation Network.

To be honest, Meng Fan hadn't realized before how broad the scope of IP operations could be. Besides the commonly known uses, there were some truly niche applications.

Among these, a collaboration was signed, led by Penguin Animation in conjunction with Penguin Games. The protagonist of *Strange People of Mountains and Seas* would appear as a game character in a popular MOBA mobile game under Penguin Games, becoming a "hero" for players to control.

(End of chapter)