Riding the wind of rebirth

Early the next morning, the first mediation session between the Digital Alliance Music Forum and the Music Professionals Association began in the New York State Court.

Not everyone can enter the deliberation room. The Alliance's representatives include Tony Huang, the authorized attorney for Sony, Samsung, and AXA, and Margaret, the head of the Alliance's North American region. The Association's representatives include Truney and Malmut.

The judge was a kind-faced old white man named Lewis.

Zhou Zhi and others came to the room next to the collegiate bench to watch the live broadcast of the mediation.

This is also a common design method. Many times, in cases that are still in the mediation stage, the parties are unwilling to come forward directly, but negotiate through their attorneys. They are also worried and want to pay attention to the situation on site, so the court will arrange a live broadcast room nearby.

The rooms are simply and comfortably furnished, and coffee and tea are provided, but all of these, including the room, are charged.

Zhou Zhi felt that this approach was quite considerate. It was indeed a welfare country with a lot of litigation, and lawyers, accountants, and doctors had extremely high incomes.

Of course, Zhou Zhi and his group alone are not enough. There is also a room manager, who seems to be an intern from the court, as well as the person in charge of the alliance's North American headquarters and the legal advisor.

The system of a litigation-heavy country is that lawyers like legal advisors cannot litigate. The lawyers who litigate are professional litigation lawyers like Tony Huang, but they are just right to stay here to explain relevant legal issues to Zhou Zhi and others.

Zhou Zhi was not the only one who came here. There were also Zhang Siluo and Ikeda Qiu. The three of them only represented the three initial partners of the Digital Alliance, namely AXA Fund, Samsung and Sony. The other two were investors introduced later, representatives of Collins Bank and Luhmann Private Equity Fund.

Mai Xiaomiao originally wanted to come along, but was intercepted by McGee, who asked her to help Karam and Rose figure out two statistical models, so she had to go to the college.

The representative of Luhmann’s private equity fund was a thin, bald man who exuded the elite air of a Wall Street guy. He looked arrogant, as if everyone sitting in the room owed him money.

The representative of Collins Bank was a middle-aged woman with elegant clothes and outstanding temperament. Although her expression was not arrogant, she was a little distant. However, perhaps because of her Asian ancestry, Zhou Zhi felt a little familiar and friendly.

The woman looked towards Zhou Zhi from time to time, with a scrutinizing look in her eyes.

The alliance's legal advisor was named Huron. Seeing that the atmosphere was a bit dull, he took the initiative to start the conversation: "We are still very confident about this mediation. Don't worry too much. Tony Huang's professional ability is also recognized in New York State. The court is still preparing. If you have any questions, we can discuss them while we're at it."

Richard Riel, vice president of the alliance, said: "You are all organizers and investor representatives of the alliance. Your presence in New York shows your importance to the alliance. We are very grateful for your support. The alliance will definitely create sufficient benefits for all shareholders."

"The fundamental reason why this incident happened is that the profitability of the alliance has attracted improper coveting." Richard Riel said: "Speaking of this, we should all thank Mr. George for making important suggestions on the forum's structure and operating model."

At this point, Richard Riel stood up from his seat and bowed to Zhou Zhi: "Mr. George, I'm very sorry for offending you before, because everything you foresaw, which we thought would never happen, has happened in reality. If it weren't for your obstruction, although we would have gained greater benefits in the short term, it would have inevitably brought us considerable trouble." "Richard, sit down first." Zhou Zhi smiled and said, "There is an old saying in my hometown, which goes, while you are eating dumplings, someone is silently counting; there is also an old saying, which goes, while you are looking at the food in other people's bowls, others are looking at your pot."

"Perhaps we should have a stronger sense of crisis, and therefore give more consideration to systemic risks. Any unreasonable and hurtful distribution method will eventually bring about a strong backlash."

"I think the problems that the Practitioners Association is facing now are actually related to this. Asking for rewards without paying is called exploit."

"This word has multiple meanings in English, including development, utilization, full play, and clever use. It also has a complacent positive connotation, so the special word in our country is not quite accurate in translation, because that word is a naked derogatory word, called 'exploitation'."

"The Alliance Forum needs to create profits for shareholders, so of course it needs to take a share from the practitioners' works, but this share needs to be reasonable, so that practitioners feel that their efforts are worthwhile under our management. In fact, this is what I insisted on when designing the system, so Mr. Richard, you are exaggerating the role of my suggestions."

“No, no.” Richard said with a smile: “If it weren’t for your many suggestions at that time, we would be the passive ones now. But now… hehe…”

"Mr. Richard, the mediation hasn't even started yet, why do you look so confident?" Freeman, the representative of Luhman Private Equity Fund, spoke. The young man in front of him looked to be just in his early twenties. Freeman felt that Richard had exaggerated to him, and he couldn't help but sneer and said sarcastically.

Richard just smiled and didn't answer.

Louise, the representative of Collins Bank, did not intend to let this issue go: "Mr. Richard, you should know that the associations of practitioners in various industries are quite powerful in the United States, especially in labor-intensive industries and the record industry. I believe everyone is clear about the reasons. If these reasons still exist, are you sure that relying on an electronic system can solve the problem? Isn't it too exaggerated?"

"Ms. Louise, what you said is indeed a problem. We can talk behind closed doors and there is no need to be too reserved."

"I think the reason you're talking about is that in labor-intensive industries and the record industry, there is soil that breeds gangs. They act under the guise of associations and fight against the employers on the grounds of seeking rights for practitioners. This often makes it difficult for the employers to resist because most practitioners are happy to see it happen and naturally stand on their side."

"Yes, so I would like to ask Richard, what suggestions did Mr. George make that you think can solve this problem?" Although Louise was asking Richard, her eyes were looking at Zhou Zhi with interest.

"Mr. George once said something very philosophical: we should not just eliminate problems, because eliminating problems is not enough. What we need to eliminate is the soil that produces problems."

"Then how does it work specifically? Just rely on this alliance forum?" Louise is also an old hand and of course she won't be fooled by these slogans.

"Yes, in fact, apart from capital factors, the right to speak is often brought about by information gaps. For the record industry, this is also the case most of the time." (End of this chapter)