CHAPTER 187: CHAPTER 187: YOU BROUGHT THIS UPON YOURSELF

The name Yan is bound by a confidentiality agreement with Ford Entertainment.

Therefore, Yan’s external contact information has also been handled by Jasper Ford’s people.

It’s impossible to trace it back to Serena Sterling.

Because of this, Serena had asked Jasper about Vera Hansen’s phone number issue.

Vera has several numbers for external contact, but the one she used to contact Irene wasn’t registered in her name. She was very cautious.

Thinking for a moment, Serena pressed the answer button.

"Yan?" Vera spoke first from the other side, "This is Vera."

Serena coughed twice, pretending her cold hadn’t gotten better.

"What’s the matter?" Serena rasped, glancing at Seraphina, then walked to the balcony.

"Did you see the trending topic online?" Vera’s voice was full of pride.

This was a method she had devised after much contemplation.

Serena closed the balcony door and rasped, "I saw it."

"So, are you willing to give it to me now?" Vera confidently said, "As long as you cooperate with me, I will give you a fund that will satisfy you, and even help you build your personal IP."

She chose her words very carefully, avoiding mentioning the signature, only saying "it", preventing anyone from grasping anything concrete.

Serena knew Vera was preventing recordings.

Thinking of this, Serena smiled slightly and rasped, "A signature is a signature, why refer to it as ’it’?"

"I never mentioned a signature; if you insist on attaching one to me, I can’t help it." Vera flatly denied.

"Let’s continue the previous topic."

Vera spoke, enticingly, "Yan, you must know that Jasper and Serena have a deep relationship. Ford Entertainment will only allocate a large amount of resources to Serena, so helping Jasper yields no benefit. It would be better to cooperate with me."

"As for your contract issue with Ford Entertainment, I think The Lawson Corporation can help you solve it."

Vera spoke with confidence, not believing that at this point, the other party would still refuse her offer.

But the raspy voice came again: "I said I won’t sell; Vera, do you know you’ve infringed on copyright?"

Vera merely laughed.

"I certainly have not," she stated.

"Or, let me be more blunt with you."

Vera’s voice slightly deepened.

"Online, do you think what you say holds credibility? Moreover, I actually haven’t done anything."

Serena understood Vera’s meaning.

Currently, Yan’s name has been added to "Micro Love", and with Vera’s marketing, most netizens believe Yan just participated; the whole song is still considered Vera’s original work.

With Vera’s marketing tactics, if Yan dares to voice out, Vera can portray her as someone who merely participated but is a greedy person trying to claim all the credit.

This is the overwhelming public opinion crushing a small artist like Yan.

Sensing the other’s silence, Vera smiled with satisfaction.

She had long prepared, even if Yan produced copyright proof. She could say the song was originally recorded at the Ford Group’s practice building. As a newcomer to the music circle, she knew nothing and just let Yan assist.

If the copyright registration doesn’t include Vera, it means Yan exploited a loophole.

This way, both parties have a dispute and need to go to court, which is a lengthy process. Even if the truth emerges much later, the prime opportunity would have passed.

"Have you thought it through?" Vera thought and confidently remarked, "Will you agree with me? You can still get something now, but not necessarily in the future."

Serena chuckled and said, "Not selling."

"Yan, you need to understand," Vera’s voice had a hint of surprise, "Even if it goes to litigation in the end, I have the ability to ensure my loss is only monetary."

"Moreover, the whole litigation process is very long. You might as well agree with my cooperation now and get funding and resources."

But Serena merely chuckled and directly hung up the phone.

Serena looked at the phone.

She knew Vera wouldn’t give up.

She was just a bit curious about what reckless actions Vera would take next.

If initially Vera could claim she wasn’t subjectively infringing, thinking she bought the song meant she could claim it was her original work.

Now, Vera knows she’s infringing and refuses to publicly apologize, while making her own way, attempting to obscure the facts by adding a name.

The difference between these two is significant; intentional infringement can be judged more severely.

According to her knowledge of Julian Lawson.

If a project’s risk is too great, he will immediately terminate it.

But what if Vera insisted on pushing forward?

Serena slightly lowered her eyes.

[Vera, you’ve brought this upon yourself.]

She clenched her right hand to calm herself down.

Then, she returned to the ward, continuing to focus on her tasks at hand.

In a few days, the first batch of new products from the Hawthorne Group will be launched, and she needs to prepare for a grand opening!

...

On the other side.

After a few days of recuperation, Julian Lawson’s health had recovered.

He looked down at Vera, tapping the re-recorded version of "Micro Love" on the tablet with his index finger.

"What are you thinking?" he asked.

Vera looked at him innocently.

"Brother Julian, I added her name," Vera said "naively". "Didn’t they say it was copyright infringement? Adding resolves it."

Julian Lawson felt a headache coming.

"The signature belongs solely to her. It’s not a matter of whether you added her or not," he said.

Vera didn’t respond immediately, instead, she led Julian to sit down nearby.

"Brother Julian," Vera said, "you must understand one thing."

"Once only Yan’s name is written, it means admitting the previous infringement." Vera stated seriously, "It also means that all my previous public image will collapse instantly."

"It also means,"

She paused slightly, saying, "I would lose."

Julian was very aware of this, which is why he reached out to Yan for post-event silence.

But now Yan refuses, leaving it unsolved.

Thus, only terminating the "Micro Love" project could minimize the losses.

Yet Vera disagreed.

All this made Julian feel a headache.

Vera looked at Julian, smiling, saying:

"Now that I’ve added Yan, at least it doesn’t exclude her, acknowledging that the song has her contribution."

She stated matter-of-factly, "Then giving her some funds and resources implies the song involved her, and the money is right, so it’s not unfair to her."

"Brother Julian, I’ve spent many days thinking of this, and this is the method that benefits both."

Julian looked at Vera with a complex expression.

Her premise for all this is Yan’s agreement.

If Yan disagrees, then it’s an infringement.

"Do you still want to push ahead with the ’Micro Love’ project?" Julian asked.

"Yes," Vera insisted, "Brother Julian, I won’t give up; even if you disagree, I will go ahead myself."

Only "Micro Love" can let her achieve excellence.

Yan is just a small artist who survives by selling songs, and during the hot days, she’s called by the company to wear an uncomfortable mascot costume, showing her low status.

Yan is just playing hardball; this time, she just wants to gain more, hence the tug-of-war.

She believes Yan will ultimately agree.

Dealing with Yan is a piece of cake.