Rebirth 08: Can a mobile game company also build a tech empire?

Chapter 149 Self-Preservation and Opportunity

Z-Dimension primarily focuses on anime and user-generated content.

Not in the film and television industry.

But that doesn't mean we can rest easy.

What if one day a user uploads a video?

Did it use a clip from a copyrighted film or television series?

What if one day a content creator in a music section...

Did you cover a copyrighted song?

This kind of thing was common on Bilibili in the past.

Bilibili started by relying on a large amount of content being copied and remixed.

Later, the copyright environment tightened.

Those videos should either be taken down.

Or they will be sued by the copyright holder.

He ended up looking disheveled.

Lu Chen withdrew his gaze and looked at Xu Yi.

"Xu Yi, do you think this anti-piracy alliance is just a small-scale operation?"

Xu Yi paused for a moment, then answered somewhat uncertainly.

"Similar things have happened before, such as copyright associations and anti-piracy alliances, but in the end, nothing came of it, and piracy still happened."

"This time is different."

Lu Chen interrupted him.

His tone was somewhat serious.

Xu Yi's expression changed.

He rarely saw Lu Chen speak in this tone.

"Mr. Lu, what do you mean?"

Will Sohu really sue?

"meeting!"

Lu Chen nodded.

"And it's not just a lawsuit. Zhang Chaoyang is serious this time. He's not just putting on a show. He's setting rules for the entire industry."

"But we're an anime and manga community, and we mainly create user-generated content. It's different from Youku, which directly pirates movies and TV shows."

Xu Yi tentatively spoke.

"no the same?"

Lu Chen countered with a question.

"Think about it, how many videos on Z-Dimension use clips from movies and TV shows?"

Where did the material for the parody video of Zhuge Liang scolding Wang Lang come from?

Do the original songs in the music section have copyright?

Who owns the copyright to the game footage recorded in the gaming area?

Xu Yi opened his mouth, but couldn't say a word.

"Xu Yi, you need to understand one thing."

Lu Chen's tone became more patient, but still serious.

"Some things are light but heavy. When no one is investigating piracy, it's easy to talk about, but once someone takes it seriously, it becomes a real legal risk. Sohu's lawsuit against Youku is just the beginning. More copyright holders will join this war, and the copyright environment will be completely changed."

He paused, then continued.

"Our Z-Dimension is indeed not within their main attack range right now, but who can guarantee that it won't be in the future?"

What if a copyright holder targets us one day and sends us a lawsuit?

Delete the video? Pay compensation? Or go to court?

Xu Yi's expression changed.

He finally realized the seriousness of the problem.

If the court does find Youku guilty of copyright infringement.

What does that mean?

This means the rules of the game for the entire industry are about to change.

Piracy is no longer an unspoken rule.

"Mr. Lu, what should we do now?"

Lu Chen stood up, walked to the window, and remained silent for a few seconds.

Then he turned around and said decisively.

"First, immediately strengthen the review process."

"From now on, all videos uploaded to Z-Dimension will be subject to manual review, with a focus on screening content that clearly uses materials from domestic films and television dramas, especially popular dramas, movies, and variety shows. If any problematic content is found, it will either be taken down or the content creator will be required to cut out the infringing segments."

"Second, conduct a comprehensive review of the existing videos."

"We'll go through all the videos Z-Dimension has produced since its launch, sorted by view count from highest to lowest, in batches. Those with high view counts and obvious copyright infringement issues will be prioritized. If we can contact the content creators, we'll ask them to modify or delete the videos themselves. If we can't contact them, the platform will remove them directly."

Xu Yi quickly took notes, while his mind raced with calculations.

There are very few domestic film and television scripts on Z-Dimensional.

After all, its main focus is on anime and gaming content.

But thinking about it carefully, it's true that some users do upload clips from popular TV dramas.

Or the full version of some movies.

All of these need to be cleared out.

"What about those from overseas?"

Xu Yi looked up and asked.

"Let's keep the ones from overseas for now."

Lu Chen thought for a moment.

"But we can't just put them in the homepage recommendations like before. We need to hide them where they should be hidden and restrict them where they should be restricted. Users should be able to find them, but copyright holders shouldn't be able to see them at a glance."

He paused, then added.

"The key is to completely remove any content with domestic copyright. As for foreign content, we'll wait and see how this lawsuit unfolds."

Xu Yi nodded.

Suddenly, something else came to mind.

"Mr. Lu, should we buy some copyrights too?"

His tone carried a hint of probing.

"Z-Dimension also has some popular content now, such as some new anime series. Some users have uploaded the entire series. If we buy the official versions, wouldn't that attract more users?"

Lu Chen thought for a moment and then shook his head.

"No, I don't recommend Z-Dimension enter the market now to grab copyrights."

Xu Yi was somewhat puzzled.

"Why? Don't we have money now?"

"Zhengtu just raised over 700 million yuan."

"I have money, but I don't spend it like this."

Lu Chen interrupted him.

"The anti-piracy alliance has just started, and the copyright war among video websites has only just begun. The price of copyrights seems reasonable now, but it will soon be driven up. When Youku, Tudou, and Sohu start vying for exclusive rights and first broadcasts, the price of copyrights will rise to an absurd level."

He paused, then his tone became serious.

"Entering the market now is equivalent to entering at the peak of the bull market, and waiting to be trapped."

Xu Yi nodded thoughtfully.

"Besides, even if we wanted to buy it, could we compete with Youku and Tudou?"

Lu Chen looked at him.

"What is their size? And what about us?"

Although Journey has raised over 700 million yuan, that money needs to be invested in R&D, production expansion, and ecosystem development. How much of that can actually be allocated to Z-Dimension?

"And, most importantly..."

Lu Chen raised his third finger.

"There are too many film and television copyrights. We can't buy them all. Is buying a few popular dramas enough? No, users want to watch a massive amount of content. Can we afford to buy a few, or even hundreds?"

I can't afford it.

Xu Yi fell silent.

He knew that Lu Chen was telling the truth.

Z-Dimensional has developed quite well.

But compared to leading players like Youku and Tudou.

It's still far from being large enough.

Going head-on in a copyright war is suicidal.

"So what do we do?"

Xu Yi asked.

"Are we just going to stand by and watch them steal our copyrights, and do nothing?"

"Of course not."

Lu Chen smiled.