Domination in America, Starting from being a Boxing Champion

SB Entertainment Company is located in the West Village of Manhattan, an area with a strong artistic atmosphere, also considered a cultural sanctuary by New Yorkers.

The neighborhood brings together various artists, including painters, musicians, actors, and writers.

Singers are the most numerous here, and since the 1950s, it has become one of the birthplaces of modern folk music. By 1965, when Bob Dylan performed rock at the ’Newport Folk Festival,’ it became a sacred place in the hearts of rock musicians.

Many musicians, before they became famous, had residency gigs in the bars and nightclubs of the West Village. Some were even discovered by talent scouts and went from nobodies to Emperor Superstars, including jazz singer Ray Charles, Norah Jones, Lady Gaga, and others.

SB Entertainment Company chose to set up its headquarters here, partly to take advantage of the local talent pool.

Previously, Scott’s favorite thing to do in his spare time was to stand in front of the floor-to-ceiling windows and enjoy the performances of street musicians below.

But today, he only found their music somewhat noisy, wishing he could lean out of the window and scream "Shut up!"

"Boss, I’m back."

Assistant Alex returned to the office, out of breath.

Scott quickly asked.

Alex took out a document and placed it on the desk, telling him with a voice full of helplessness that the copyright registration information was real and that the similarities between the two versions of "Baby" were nearly 50%.

"How could this happen? Ludacris told me before that it was their original work, why would it be suspected of plagiarism? Why?!"

Scott angrily asked.

Alex didn’t know how to explain the situation. The song "Baby" was performed by Justin and Ludacris.

The songwriters included five people: Justin Bieber, Ludacris, Tricky Stewart, The Dream, Christina Milian.

The main creators were the latter four, with Ludacris being a signed artist of SB Entertainment Company, and the other three musicians also had working relationships with the company.

Now that an issue had arisen, not only the creators were to be held accountable, but the responsibility of SB Entertainment Company was even greater.

Based on current court precedents for copyright infringement, the punishment ratio is between five to ten times, depending on the severity of the infringement and the profits made.

"Baby" was not just Justin’s hit song, but also the lead single from the album "My World 2.0."

It had a powerful influence worldwide, and through this song, SB Company had successfully launched Justin Bieber, making tens of millions, and stood to make more in the future.

Because of the song’s impact and high revenue,

The court would also likely impose a high penalty in its ruling.

What’s worse, Justin had just debuted, and his lead single was suspected of plagiarism.

What would the fans think?

A hit song that reached the top three on the charts, but was stolen.

How would the media criticize Justin and SB Company?

If this matter was not handled well, not only could Justin’s future be completely ruined, but SB Company might also go bankrupt and close down.

"Fuck! Fuck!"

Scott suddenly raged, swinging a golf club around the office, smashing trophies and picture frames, fish tanks sending shards flying everywhere.

"Boss, stop it, the deed is done. Getting angry is useless. You’d better calm down and think of a strategy,"

Alex consoled him.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

Scott swung his golf club furiously, smashing it onto the leather sofa that Ivanka had just sat on.

After a while, Ludacris and the other four producers walked into the office and saw the chaos, looking as if it had been ransacked by a brotherhood, their faces registering shock.

"What happened?"

Ludacris, wearing a white tee and a gold chain, dressed almost like in "Fast & Furious," questioned Scott with his thick lips, but Scott, with a dark face, remained silent.

"Take a look at this."

Alex handed the "Baby" copyright registration documents to Ludacris and the others.

After looking through it, their expressions changed drastically.

"Impossible! We co-wrote this song together, how could it be plagiarized? This document must be fake,"

Ludacris exclaimed.

Scott leaned back in his chair with a cold expression on his thin face, saying nothing.

"Sadly, it’s real!"

Alex pulled out his phone, opened the photos, showing the archive he had photographed at the copyright office, identical to the copy before them.

"There’s also a recording of a demo in the archive there. I’ve listened to it. The chorus is almost exactly the same as our ’Baby’."

Alex said.

"How is that possible? I absolutely didn’t plagiarize. Did you guys reference this work during creation?"

Ludacris looked toward his three companions.

All three shook their heads in unison, indicating a definite no.

Skutt looked up at the four men and after seeing that no one was admitting responsibility, he pondered for a moment, "Besides the four of you, is there anyone else involved or who has influenced your creation?"

"No one!"

The three denied it with a shake of their heads.

Only the musician named Thales Nash spoke up, "When we were producing this song, that production assistant who had jumped ship from Link Music said that the chorus sounded a bit familiar, as if he’d heard it somewhere before."

"What?!"

Skutt sat upright, bracing himself against the desk as he exclaimed, "Did he take part in the production?"

Thales thought for a moment. "He adjusted the accompaniment for the chorus, originally the tone was a bit lower."

"Fuck, fuck! Why didn’t you say so earlier?"

Skutt roared loudly, veins popping on his forehead and neck.

"He only changed a little. His contribution to the entire song is less than 1%. We never thought it would collide with a song written by Link. It must be a coincidence," Nash defended.

"Idiot! This is Ivanka’s trickery. She knew we were poaching people from Link Music, and to counter us, she deliberately set a tempting bait, luring us into her trap, and then freely gave us a song. Her goal is to take over my company, it must be so, it just has to be— Ivanka is so vicious."

Skutt said angrily.

"Skutt, except for the chorus accompaniment, everything else is our original creation. We absolutely did not plagiarize," Ludacris said.

"What’s the use of saying all this? The two songs have as much as 50% similarity. They registered their copyright in ’08, we did at the end of ’09. That production assistant from Link Music is also at our company and participated in creating this song. After the judges learn about all this, who do you think they will believe?"

Skutt’s face turned red as he slapped the table while shouting.

Ludacris and the others felt helpless. There were too many coincidences to explain clearly.

Skutt glared at the four men and seeing they had nothing more to say, he leaned back in his chair powerlessly, looking at the crystal chandelier while murmuring to himself.

"This has to be Ivanka’s conspiracy, it must be. Last year, when she learned we were dealing with Link Music, she quickly initiated countermeasures, releasing a poison pill into our SB Entertainment Company. After ’Baby’ was released, she deliberately remained silent. When the album became a hit, knowing the time was right, she used the copyright for ’Baby’ to threaten us, seeking to forcibly take over SB. She’s so merciless. We just poached a few of her people, and she aims to swallow us whole."

Skutt clenched his fists tightly, grinding his teeth in anger.

"Boss, should we agree to her takeover offer?" Alex asked.

"No, of course not. SB is my life’s work. I’d rather give up Justin Bieber than sell the company to her," Skutt said coldly.

"Then our only option is to fight Link Music in court, but they registered their copyright before us, and it’s going to be tough to win," Alex said with a shrug.

Skutt was aware of this fact as well.

Ivanka was born into a wealthy family and also had connections within the judicial system.

Fighting in court, the odds of winning were slim.

Not only would they have to pay Link Music a significant amount of money if they lost, but Justin’s reputation would also suffer greatly, possibly ruining his future. SB Company’s past investments in him would also be lost, accruing heavy losses.

But to not fight and instead resolve things privately would mean selling the company to Link Music at a low price, becoming a subsidiary to Link Music.

This was not the outcome he wanted to see.

"You all go down first. I need to think this through," Skutt said.

After the group left, Skutt sat in his office pinching the bridge of his nose, deep in thought, hoping to find a way out.

Ding ding ding!

After an unknown span of time, his phone on the desk suddenly rang. Skutt picked it up to see it was a call from Jay-Z.

"Jess, what’s up?"

Your journey continues with

"Skutt, you told me the video of Link causing trouble would be posted online at eight tonight. It’s already half past eight. Where did you upload the video?"

"The video? Is it already eight o’clock?"

Skutt looked at the floor-to-ceiling window, and at some uncertain time, the sky outside had darkened early. The flashy neon lights were reflected on the window glass, surprisingly good-looking. He slapped his forehead,

"Sorry, Jess. I’ve been too busy today and forgot about the video. Just give me a moment, I’ll upload it right now."

Visit and read more novel to help us update chapter quickly. Thank you so much!