1978 Synthetic Writers

Chapter 292 A two-pronged approach
In a small guesthouse in BY City, editors from the Reader's Digest editorial department held a small meeting.

"How could this happen?"

“Who posted this article?”

What they were discussing was, of course, the commentary article from China Youth Daily.

Three suggestions are made in the article.

Regarding the first two points, both de Gaulle and Nixon hit the nail on the head, as these were mentioned in their articles published in Reader's Digest.

The most fatal point is the last one: Reader's Digest promotes humanization and foreign things.

The editors of Reader's Digest felt their legs tremble just by hearing this.

This hat is flying really big.

But they couldn't refute it.

And if we study it from this perspective, then their magazine is guilty of a great crime.

"Is this what we mean? Isn't this author misleading?"

"That's right, this article is so misleading! This is clearly not the intention of our articles."

An editor suggested: "Can we contact the author Xu Fei and ask him to withdraw this article? Otherwise, the impact on us will be too great."

"I've already called China Youth Daily."

A female editor sighed and explained, "They said that unless the author agrees, they will not disclose the author Xu Fei's address and more information."

"We can't let this article continue to ferment. If it continues like this, I don't know what readers will say about our magazine."

"Yes."

"Oh, this is really embarrassing. How did this article end up in China Youth Daily?"

"Who knows? Now that the whole country has read this article, I wonder how many people will poke us in the spine after reading it."

"We'll discuss these issues later. Does anyone know anyone at China Youth Daily?"

The editors offered their opinions and thought of solutions one by one, running around the room like ants on a hot pan.

At this moment, with a creaky sound, the door was pushed open.

The person who came in was a short fat man with thinning hair.

"Editor-in-chief!" Lu Xinyu shouted at him.

Cao Keji, the editor-in-chief of Reader's Digest, who was called, nodded, and his face did not look very good.

"Editor-in-chief, has something happened?" another female editor asked tentatively.

"Ugh."

Cao Keji's face was filled with sorrow.

For the sake of the editorial department's stability, he shouldn't have disclosed the news. However, everyone here is on the editorial board of Reader's Digest, the core of the magazine. It wouldn't have any impact if he disclosed it now, and it would also be convenient for them to discuss a way out for the magazine together.

"I just received a message."

Cao Keji said slowly: "The article about our magazine published by China Youth Daily has been taken to the (zhong) (yang) Political Research Office for discussion."

"zyzhengx Research Laboratory?!" a female editor exclaimed.

"Yes."

Cao Keji nodded. "After discussion, it was decided to give the disposal rights of Reader's Digest to the province. The Provincial Department of Propaganda is going to organize a meeting of experts to discuss the fate of Reader's Digest."

Upon hearing this, the editors' faces all turned grim.

I didn’t expect it to get to this point, this article is really going to kill Reader’s Digest!
"Editor-in-chief, do you mean that the survival of our magazine now depends on the decisions of these experts?" Lu Xinyu asked.

Cao Keji nodded and sighed:

"This time I've really been pushed to the edge."

Everyone felt sad when they heard this.

Seeing their magazine sales growing steadily, the editors encouraged each other and prepared to hit the one million circulation mark.

At this critical juncture, not only was a bucket of cold water poured on them, but they also learned from Cao Keji that their Reader's Digest might be shut down at any time.

"how so."

The editors sighed and some of the more vulnerable female editors even burst into tears.

Another editor asked, "Editor-in-Chief, is there no other leeway?"

"."

Cao Keji remained silent.

Editor Hu Yaquan knew the seriousness of the matter. He thought for a moment and asked, "Editor-in-chief, are we still preparing for next month's manuscript as usual?"

".Keep it for now."

Cao Keji rubbed his temple.

He didn't know who he had offended or which colleague had been envied, and why he had suffered such an unexpected disaster.

"Keep the manuscript. Wait for the final notice, and then I'll talk to the leaders of the agency."

Cao Keji left the guesthouse. In the following days, he went around and met with several leaders, writing letters of guarantee and self-criticism.
Their Reader's Digest is backed by Gansu People's Publishing House, and with its considerable sales, comrades in the province still value their magazine very much.

After mediation, the province found some experts who generally had a favorable impression of Reader's Digest magazine. As a result, the conclusion after discussion was:

“There are problems, and they need to be corrected.”

Chinese culture is profound and extensive, and the implication of "rectification" is that it can continue.

Cao Keji held a meeting and decided to cooperate with the rectification first, and then publish the withheld issues together after the rectification is completed.

This is the best possible outcome for Reader's Digest.

However, the losses caused were extremely huge, enough to make every editor of Reader's Digest heartbroken.

You know, their magazine sales are now in a period of growth, and at this critical juncture, they have to suspend distribution for several months.

There is no doubt that this rectification will have a huge impact on the growth rate of the circulation of their Reader's Digest.

But what can the people at the magazine do?

Compared to losing their lives, they were grateful for the punishment of being slapped in the face. At least they survived this incident that was enough to kill them.

"Oh, be content."

"Tell me about Xu Fei. Why is he targeting our magazine?"

"It's just, inexplicable."

The editors of Reader's Digest were extremely resentful of Xu Fei.

It can be said that the slap in the face of rectification was given by Xu Fei.

The more I think about this, the angrier I get.

It was clear that Reader's Digest had no grudge against Xu Fei, yet they actually did this to them, causing them to suffer such a huge loss for no reason.

This person is too much!

But they had no information about Xu Fei, and didn't even have a way to fight back.

The editors cursed and complained, but what they didn't expect was that one crisis would come after another.

The editors of Reader's Digest soon received another letter, this one from Hong Kong and also signed by Reader's Digest.

Why are there two Reader's Digests?

Because this Reader's Digest is not that Reader's Digest.

This is the American Reader's Digest.

It was founded as a monthly magazine in 1922, and has since been published in various languages ​​around the world, gradually growing into the magazine with the largest readership in the world. It has 48 editions in 19 languages ​​and is sold in more than 60 countries around the world.

It is one of the best-selling magazines in the world.

In the 60s, the international Chinese version of Reader's Digest was launched and sold in both Hong Kong and Formosa Province. The first editor-in-chief was the daughter of the literary giant Lin Yutang.

This international Chinese version of Reader's Digest has also entered mainland China in small quantities and was distributed there.

Unfortunately, the climate and environment are not suitable for me.

Each journal only prints a few hundred copies, has no influence, and does not make money.

The letter received by Gansu's Reader's Digest came from the American version of Reader's Digest.

The other party prohibited their Gansu-based Reader's Digest from continuing to use the name "Reader's Digest" on the grounds of complying with international copyright conventions.

After reading this letter, the people in the editorial department felt dizzy.

First they were ordered to make corrections, and now even the name can’t be used?
Damn, has this happened to me?

Otherwise, how come all these bad things happened at the same time? !

"What is this international copyright convention?"

"I checked. The convention initiated and signed by the Swiss government is, in simple terms, international copyright protection, which protects the rights and interests of authors of literary and artistic works."

"Editor-in-Chief, what should we do? Should we change the name of the magazine?"

"It can't be changed! It absolutely can't be changed!"

One editor strongly objected, saying, "If we change the name at this time, after we have completed the revision, no one will know that we are the original Reader's Digest."

Cao Keji sighed.

He knew very well the origin of the name Reader's Digest.

At the beginning, he and Zheng Yuanxu were planning to publish a magazine, but they didn't know what to do. A friend of Zheng Yuanxu in Hong Kong mailed him a few Chinese versions of the American "Reader's Digest" for reference.

After reading this digest, which is very famous outside of China, the two immediately decided to start copying.

In this way, without the knowledge of the American Reader's Digest, their Reader's Digest in Lanzhou, Gansu was officially launched.

Cao Keji never expected that their small magazine would actually enter the field of vision of the American "Reader's Digest".

At this moment, listening to his colleagues' earnest advice, he was also considering countermeasures.

The name cannot be changed.

After discussing with the editorial board for an entire afternoon, we finally came up with an unethical solution.

Editorial department of the international Chinese edition of Reader’s Digest, Hong Kong.

The editors received a letter from Reader's Digest in Gansu and opened it to read:
"Hello, fellow readers of the Chinese edition of Reader's Digest.

We have received your letter and we regret your request.

Our country has not signed your international copyright convention, so this convention is not binding on us."

To summarize the content of this letter, the general idea is that China has not signed the international copyright convention, and your American Reader's Digest has no influence over our Gansu Reader's Digest.

"Shameless!"

"How shameless!"

A group of editors in Hong Kong were gritting their teeth, but they could do nothing about those guys in Gansu.

"Just wait, China has not joined the World Copyright Treaty yet, but it will join one day," said an editor angrily.

Another editor also pumped his fist.

"Yes, they won't be so arrogant for long."

"They'd better never release it overseas!"

"that is!"

The editors criticized fiercely, and a voice came faintly from the corner.

"There is something more urgent at the moment."

A young male editor wearing glasses reminded me, “Some time ago, China officially issued the Trademark Law, which is the first intellectual property law in the mainland.

I think we should get ahead of those guys and apply for the Reader's Digest book and periodical trademark from the mainland's Industry and Commerce Bureau."

Apply for a trademark?

The eyes of the other editors lit up.

"Wonderful!"

“Good reminder!”

"You are very smart, D."

"That's good. The trademark is ours. According to Chinese law, if these guys don't want to be sued, they have to stop publishing!"

The editor who was praised scratched his head, looking shy, and said, "I didn't think of this myself. It was mentioned in the letter that reported the mainland's Reader's Digest to us before."

"That person even mentioned this?"

The others were surprised when they heard this, but they didn't pay too much attention to this detail.

No matter what the other party's purpose is, allowing a magazine that completely plagiarizes itself to grow is something that the American Reader's Digest cannot tolerate.

Compared with Hong Kong, Gansu's response was much slower.

The editors were still immersed in their anger towards Xu Fei and their relief at having survived the disaster.

There was no more news from Hong Kong, and while they were feeling relieved, they received a call from the Industry and Commerce Bureau.

The other party reminded them to apply for the Reader's Digest trademark as soon as possible.

However, the people in the magazine lacked legal awareness and did not take it seriously.

Compared with Hong Kong, which has already completed commercialization, the mainland's awareness of intellectual property protection is seriously insufficient, and people do not understand or realize the importance of trademarks.

A time bomb was buried silently at this point in time.

Beijing.

As the instigator behind the incident, Jiang Xian has not focused his attention on Reader's Digest for some time.

His two-pronged approach won't kill Reader's Digest, but it will be enough to make them suffer.

As for the rumors that the magazine had brought to him before, Jiang Xian did not choose to remain silent, but quickly issued a statement to clarify.

Some writer friends also spoke up for him.

Including Ba Jin, who was very angry when he learned about this incident and wrote about it in a column in Hong Kong's Ta Kung Pao:

"I hope readers will note that the content of the article "The Love Jiang Xian Has to Talk About" has nothing to do with Mr. Jiang Xian.

Judging from the content, it is completely untrue and false. If this matter spreads, it will have a negative impact on Jiang Xian’s reputation.”

This column is where Ba Jin serialized "Confessions", also known as "Random Thoughts".

Jiang Xian didn't expect that he would enter "Random Thoughts" in this way. He didn't know if it could be considered a blessing in disguise.

Under such pressure, Reader's Digest finally issued a statement in Ganx Daily, apologizing to Jiang Xian, pointing out that the article was purely fabricated and had nothing to do with Jiang Xian himself, and changed the name in subsequent publications.

Now that this matter is in the past, Jiang Xian will use all his remaining energy to complete the novel in his mind.

He wrote and revised at a slow pace, so Xu Zhongyu was unable to see him complete the novel and returned to Shanghai with regret and expectation.

He was replaced by Cui Daoyi, who became a frequent visitor to Jiang Xian's home, often coming to read manuscripts and ask about the progress of his novel.

That day, Jiang Xian was holding a pen and had just finished writing the last few lines of the novel.

Before I had the chance to read it again, Zhang Shouren from October came to me.

(End of this chapter)