Living in a county town, starting as a stock market maker...

The court, the first trial chamber.

Shen Guodong's legal team consists of top lawyers, all wearing Hermès belts and Patek Philippe watches that gleam under the lights, signifying that they are charged by the second.

Leading the group was Jin Wenhai, a well-known "ever-victorious general" in Beijing's legal profession.

He was nearly fifty years old, with his hair neatly combed and thick glasses.

He is making a statement.

"Your Honorable Judge, Your Honor, we request an immediate preliminary injunction against all platforms under the defendant, 'Starry Sky Holdings.' The reason is that, knowingly or should have known, the defendant allowed, and even induced, its platform users to use on a large scale the exclusive copyrights of 1127 films and 3451 songs owned by our client…"

Jin Wenhai's voice was loud and clear.

The legal team behind him wore professional smiles.

In their view, this was a massacre.

Today, they are going to use copyright to completely crush their opponents.

Gu Ming leaned back in the defendant's chair, his posture languid.

He even had the leisure to glance at the reporters in the audience out of the corner of his eye.

Ha, a bunch of old fogies.

They're still using the old rules to fight the current battles.

Do you think this is a copyright dispute?

wrong.

This is a redistribution of traffic.

It is a generational shift in the power of discourse.

Jin Wenhai continued his statement:

"...Their actions have already caused us tens of millions of yuan in economic losses every day, and have also had an extremely negative and devastating impact on the entire country's intellectual property rights protection system! From a moral, legal, and regulatory standpoint, this should be stopped immediately! Otherwise, the nation will cease to exist!"

Well said.

If I hadn't known that you received eight figures in legal fees from Shen Guodong, I almost would have believed it.

Gu Ming took out his phone.

Under the judge's slightly displeased gaze, he slowly unlocked the screen.

Then, a concise instruction was issued in the core group of the company's senior executives.

"Let's begin."

……

Almost at the same time.

All users of the "Starry Night Short Video" app received a push notification on their mobile phones.

The push notification's title was inflammatory:

[The stars are in danger! Respond to the call and join the "Nationwide Remake" project—you could be the next era!]

Clicking on it leads to a distress message from the virtual idol "Zero".

In the letter, "Zero" spoke in her unique voice:

"Dear masters, 'Zero' and Star Holdings are being besieged by the old forces. They want to take away the world we created together."

"But we will never admit defeat!"

"From this moment forward, the 'Nationwide Remake Project' is officially launched!"

"No matter who you are or where you are, please pick up your phone and remake, sing, or imitate any movie clips or songs you like. And when you post them, please include the hashtags #ProtectOurSpiritualCorners and #EveryoneRemakes"

"This is how our era pays tribute to the classics in its own way!"

"All participants will receive Zero's latest interactive voice pack. The top 100 creators will have the opportunity to 'perform on stage' with Zero at the next concert!"

This message has ignited a frenzy among tens of millions of users.

guard?

pay tribute?

Performing on the same stage as "Zero"?!

I rely on!

What kind of magical event is this?

How can one stand on the side of justice, indulge in the thrill of being a hero, and also receive the rewards of an idol?

It's done!

next second.

The entire Chinese internet was flooded with it.

A male college student who was eating instant noodles in his dormitory saw the push notification, immediately turned the bowl upside down, faced the phone camera, and sang out the hit song that belonged to the superstar under Shen Guodong's company with his tone-deaf voice.

A young mother who was breastfeeding her child put the baby on the bed, turned on her phone, and began to imitate a famous scene from a classic comedy movie in an exaggerated accent.

Countless ordinary people, whether they were slacking off in office buildings, carrying bricks on construction sites, or resting in the fields, picked up their phones and enthusiastically participated in this remake activity.

in court.

Jin Wenhai has just finished his half-hour speech.

He sat down, picked up his water glass, and prepared to watch the panicked expressions on the faces of the young people in the dock.

However, what he saw was Gu Ming still looking down at his phone, with a playful smile on his face.

What the hell?

Just then, the phone of one of Jin Wenhai's young assistants vibrated violently.

The assistant swiped the screen, glanced at it, and his face instantly turned deathly pale.

He leaned close to Jin Wenhai's ear and said in a trembling voice:

"Jin... Jin Lu... something terrible has happened..."

"Our data monitoring backend... has crashed."

"On Xingchen Short Video, in the past five minutes, more than 300,000 new videos have been added, all of them... all of them are remakes of content from our copyright library..."

"Now...it has already surpassed 500,000..."

"It's still rising! It just won't stop!"

Jin Wenhai's smile froze.

He snatched the phone away.

On the screen, there are a lot of new videos scrolling by, all tagged with #EveryoneRemakes#.

He randomly clicked on one.

A young man in a security guard uniform was using a local dialect to perfectly imitate the core plot of the box office champion movie he was representing.

9.9 likes.

There are 20,000 comments.

Jin Wenhai's mind went blank with a buzz.

He finally understood Gu Ming's intention.

Now, the target of this lawsuit has become the tens of thousands, or even millions, of ordinary users behind it.

Suing the people?

What kind of international joke is this?!

Even if he wins, the company's brand image will be ruined.

Shen Guodong will transform from a rights defender into a greedy tyrant who is an enemy of the entire nation.

This is a tactic to wipe out any future generations!

"Cutting off the fuel supply" is not even an adequate description.

This directly destroyed the basis of their lawsuit from the very beginning.

……

at the same time.

"An'an, it's your turn."

Gu Ming sent another message.

"receive!"

On the other end of the phone was Shen Lian'an's straightforward reply.

One minute later.

A brand new topic, #SupportOriginalIntegrity, OpposeMonopolyBullying#, suddenly appeared on the trending searches under the leadership of Shen Lian.

Her circle of socialites, celebrity friends, and KOLs all spoke out at the same time.

They posted a series of remakes of videos.

Shen Li'an also joined in, re-shooting a scene from a Republican-era romance film produced by her father's company.

Her remake was exaggerated and sarcastic, turning the originally affectionate dialogue into something resembling haggling at a market.

At the end of the video, she smiled sweetly at the camera.

Good art belongs to the people, not to the safes of some old-fashioned relic.

This video went viral instantly.

The artists signed under Shen Guodong were all dumbfounded.

They found themselves isolated.

The entire entertainment industry has taken a stand against them.

Speak out in support of the boss?

That would be tantamount to making an enemy of Shen Lian, the heiress of a wealthy family, and the entire newly rich elite in Beijing's elite circles behind her.

Remain silent?

The company's termination agreement may be in front of me tomorrow.

This is like gods fighting, and mortals are suffering!

……

Public opinion quickly shifted.

Then, the final thing happened that broke them.

8 PM.

A singer named "A-Zhi" started his live stream on the Starry Sky platform.

He was one of the people Gu Ming had specifically looked after on Wang Tianqi's ragtag army list.

Thanks to the powerful push from the algorithm, his live stream attracted over a million viewers.

Ah Zhi didn't say anything. He held a worn-out guitar and, with his hoarse voice, covered a very obscure song from Shen Guodong's copyright library.

The song ended.

The live stream chat exploded with comments.

"Holy crap! Who's the original singer of this song? I've never heard of it before! But this guy's rendition is absolutely soul-stirring!"

"It sounds so good! This is the real sound!"

"I've already tipped! Please sing it again!"

Amidst countless gifts and cheers, Ah Zhi's eyes reddened.

He bowed deeply to the camera.

Then, he took out a contract from behind his back.

"Brothers, I wrote this song five years ago. At that time, I sold it to 'Universal Music,' which is Mr. Shen Guodong's company."

"The contract states the buyout price is three thousand yuan."

He grinned, but his smile was more like a grimace.

"Three thousand yuan bought out five years of my hard work. Then, it was thrown into the warehouse and never heard from again."

"Until today, the Star Platform unearthed it, and it was the brothers who brought it back to life."

"So," he held the contract high, "to hell with those unfair terms!"

Stab it--!

In front of millions of people, he tore the contract to shreds.

Paper scraps flew through the air.

At that moment, the entire internet fell silent.

……

Public opinion reversed.

Those who were previously discussing copyright protection have disappeared.

Instead, there was ridicule and anger everywhere.

A cartoon has gone viral on social media.

On screen, an old man (Shen Guodong) dressed in Qing Dynasty official robes with a queue trailing behind his head is holding a petition and vehemently suing a red sports car (Xingchen) that speeds past.

The title is: "The Coachman of Our Time Sues the Automobile".

Shen Guodong's copyright attack has become a joke.

The capital city, a private official residence.

Snapped!

A Song Dynasty official kiln celadon piece worth millions was smashed to the ground by Shen Guodong, shattering into dust.

His chest heaved violently, and his face contorted.

He couldn't figure it out.

He clearly possesses sharp weapons and strong legal barriers.

Why?

Why did it turn out like this?

His phone kept ringing with questioning calls from allies, subordinates, and family members.

He didn't want to accept any of them.

He knew he had lost.

He was defeated by the new era that he couldn't understand.

……

Outside the courthouse.

Gu Ming completed the final step of his journey.

He sent an encrypted message to Su Qingying, who was overseas.

"Offshore accounts in the British Virgin Islands and the Cayman Islands are now open for registration. The initial investment is ready to go in. The target: convertible bonds of all listed companies affiliated with Shen Guodong..."

The copyright war is just beginning.

His real target is the financial market.

We must completely destroy Shen Guodong.

After sending the message, he looked up and met the presiding judge's complex gaze.

The judge had obviously also seen everything that was happening outside through his phone.

He glanced at Jin Wenhai's pale face, then at the composed Gu Ming.

He knew that the outcome of the lawsuit was already decided.

"quiet!"

The gavel slammed down.

"After deliberation, the panel of judges has determined that the plaintiff's grounds for applying for a preliminary injunction are insufficient under the current circumstances. This court hereby declares that the plaintiff's application for an injunction is dismissed in its entirety!"

"Court adjourned!"

The judge's voice echoed for a long time in the courtroom.

Gu Ming stood up, straightened his collar, and remained calm.

He ignored Jin Wenhai's gaze and the reporters' incessant clicking of their cameras.

He walked straight out of the courthouse, the sunlight blinding him.

He stopped and spoke to the air beside him, as if talking to himself, or as if speaking to an ear that was listening, saying only one sentence.

"Mr. Shen, times have changed."