American Entertainment 1978: New York Night Fever

Chapter 107 Finalizing the Custody Agreement

Zeke stood there in a daze for a while, thinking about Apocalypse's new song, "Whatever It Takes".

The style is too weird! It looks like a rock song, but the male singer's way of singing the verses is too fast, like he's chanting a mantra.

He had never seen such a rapid-fire singing style before, but the lyrics were quite rhyming and had a strange charm. It was just a bit ahead of its time—he didn't know if the mainstream market could accept it now.

"Another inspiration?" Tino gently patted his arm.

"Yes, I have a new idea. Let's go." Zik composed himself.

"Don't you need to take notes?" Allen asked, quite surprised. "This is very common. Singer-songwriters in the industry all carry a small notebook with them to jot down their inspirations."

Tino, with a touch of smugness, ruffled his thinning hair: "Zick never uses it, he has a great memory."

"I really don't understand the world of geniuses..." Allen shook his head helplessly.

The group then moved to Alan Grubman's law firm. This time, Zeke picked up Rossi, and Tino also brought along his longtime lawyer Colin, as well as the Casablanca legal team, who were there to assist Zeke in reviewing the engagement contract.

During the review process, Rossi and his son toured Allen's office, and the secretary poured them a glass of water.

Old Rossi looked at the certificates on the wall, frowned slightly, and exchanged a glance with Zeke.

"I know what you're thinking. In this business, everyone wants a respectable lawyer who's a Harvard or Yale graduate and speaks fluent Latin."

Allen waved his hand dismissively, but his eyes shone with an astonishing light: "My resume is indeed not impressive. A diploma from Brooklyn Law School isn't exactly a gold standard anywhere. But I love this profession, I love it to the core. I went to school during the day and worked in the mailroom at William Morris at night, opening envelopes and running errands; I also interned on CBS's 'The Ed Sullivan Show,' standing backstage and watching those big stars walk right under my nose."

"Allen, I've seen your abilities, and to be honest, I really admire them. Your resume is also very solid." Zeke took a sip of water, his gaze falling on Allen's face. He liked Allen's style of speaking without any pretense.

"Yes, solidly. These lousy jobs completely got me hooked on this line of work." Allen spread his hands. "Then I got hired by Walter Hoffer... Do you know who Hoffer is? He's that old fox in the legal circle who helped Brian Epstein bring the Beatles to America. It was under him that I truly got my foot in the door."

He walked to the window, his back silhouetted against the twilight: "In 1975, I left Hoffer and started my own business. An office, a bridge table, a creaking chair..."

A telephone was all it took to start a business. Those were incredibly tough days; my bank account was empty, and nobody believed a poor lawyer in his early thirties could amount to anything.

"So how did you manage to build such a big law firm? And have the money to publish GG in magazines?" Old Ross asked, looking around his office filled with framed Billboard covers and gold-plated vinyl records.

Allen turned around, a smile playing on his lips: "And then boom!" He jerked his clenched fist upwards, fingers spreading wide. "Disco exploded. TK"

Records, Henry Stone, KC & Sunshine, Kool & the Gang—these hits burned from the dance floor to the charts, money poured in like a tidal wave. And I became the lawyer best at securing artists' money during this golden age. Not because of a degree, but because of the intuition honed through years of hard work in mailrooms and backstage.

"Zick, you are a young and incredibly talented genius with top-notch creative abilities, but contracts, copyrights, royalty splits... these are the realities that won't wait for you to mature. Rossi Brothers Publishing needs more than just someone who understands the law; it needs someone who understands the blood and sweat of this industry. We are a perfect match."

Old Rossi's eyes followed Allen's hand as he lifted it, and his lips twitched; he was amused by the sudden movement of this big fat man.

"Looks like we all have to thank Disco." Zeke laughed too; it turned out that Allen was also one of the beneficiaries of Disco's explosive success.

"Haha~ Of course, God bless disco."

Just then, the assistant knocked on the door, and Colin and the legal department had already given their results.

"...Rosie Brothers Publishing Company holds the copyright, and the law firm Grubman Indazsky Schindler is in charge of administrative management. Zeke, this agency agreement is fine."

After the two lawyers meticulously checked each clause and confirmed that everything was correct, Zik and Rossi officially signed the contract.

"Copyright administrative management is a well-established service offered by law firms," ​​Allen said tentatively, tidying up the documents. "But if you need to promote Synch or find Cover opportunities—"

“No need for that,” Zeke waved his hand, interrupting him. “That’s Rossi Brothers Publishing’s own job. You’re only responsible for administrative registration, royalty collection, and settling bad debts. Five percent, Allen, that’s already the maximum budget.”

Zeke didn't want to develop a habit of relying too much on his lawyer. Allen's platinum package sounded appealing, but it cost a whopping 15% more.

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He will have more songs in the future. If we give him too many at the beginning, his lawyers will take away huge profits when he has a large body of work.

Promoting Synch and finding Covers involves selling Synch licenses to include your work in movies, TV shows, and games, as well as encouraging others to cover your work, with the cover artists paying the copyright holders.

The works Tianqi provided were of very high quality. His publishing company could easily hire professionals to do these tasks, and paying them salaries would be much more cost-effective than taking a percentage cut.

The end of his dispute with Jacques Morales, along with the stories of Maurice Levy and John Lennon, further convinced him that copyright was the most crucial element of the pie.

Allen paused for a moment, then smiled and held out his hand: "Five points. Deal. Consider it a discount for the future superstar."

Zik smiled and reached out to shake his hand.

"We will definitely protect your interests, Zeke, and Mr. Rossi."

Allen smiled and shook hands with Rossi again, his movements swift and decisive.

“There’s one more thing, Zeke,” Allen’s expression turned serious. “You took over the recording rights to this song from Jacques, and besides the revenue, there’s been some trouble. ‘YMCA’ is involved in a lawsuit; the YMCA is suing the Villagers for trademark infringement. They’re worried about the double entendres in the lyrics,” fearing it might damage the organization’s image. Jacques has been wrangling with them for months.”

"It has little to do with me, right? I'm just a songwriter and copyright holder." Qi Ke pursed his lips. This was expected; you can't just see the thief eating meat without seeing the thief getting beaten.

"This song was already helping them gain fame, and you've been constantly proclaiming that your motivation for creating this song was to thank them. Their impression of you is much better than that of that gay Jacques," Allen replied confidently. "I'll make them accept that this is actually a tribute."

"That's good," Zeke nodded. "I'll visit Director Miller at the YMCA on the Upper East Side during the summer. He's the one who inspired me to write this song. There's no need to ruin our relationship."

"That would be perfect, you've thought of everything," Allen said approvingly.

Zik got up; it was almost dinner time by the time he finished these tasks, and he had to attend the premiere later.

He patted the young lawyer Herbert on the shoulder and instructed him, "Herbert, help me set up another record company. You can handle the legal affairs for this company as well."

"No problem, shall we continue with this naming convention? Rossi Brothers Records?" Herbert took out his notebook.

"Yes, I like this name."

"Your career is developing so fast, you're even starting your own record company now," Herbert exclaimed.

"It's not really a proper record company," Zike smiled. "This company mainly produces my own music, so it's very streamlined."

"I see."

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