Chapter 140: Exhilaration and Vindication

Sun Ruiqi and the other two had known for a long time that there was an absolute powerhouse in their incoming class—someone who had already published two works before even getting accepted into the Chinese Department, which proudly bore the motto, "We never train writers."

They had never really taken it to heart, but now, after suddenly searching for Zhang Chu's name, their phone and computer screens were flooded with an overwhelming stream of news.

There was not only a personal encyclopedia entry, but also links to his related works, while the news articles themselves appeared in the column below.

"Hey, look at this news!" An Mi pointed at the computer screen and said, "Brother Chu, the verdict for your lawsuit is out!"

Zhang Chu couldn't help but feel a jolt of nervous energy. A few days ago, the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit had posted the case notification, but it hadn't included the ruling at the time, dragging the suspense out until now.

Several heads immediately crowded together, and Sun Ruiqi quickly clicked on a news article titled: "US Judge Rules on Copyright of Sherlock Holmes."

If anyone outside the door were to witness this scene, they would likely harbor a massive misunderstanding, assuming the four of them were intensely studying some illicit adult content!

Adjusting for the time difference, it was already morning in the States. The moment the court session began, it was met with throngs of media reporters, and as soon as the verdict was announced, it spread far and wide instantly.

From Zhang Chu's perspective, his side had justice on its side from the very beginning, and with the assistance of three top-tier lawyers, failure was simply out of the question.

Yet now that the result was clearly out, he found himself experiencing a mixture of anxiety and anticipation.

[The original character portrayals of the famous detective Sherlock Holmes and his close confidant John Watson are no longer protected by copyright!]

[Judge Richard Posner of the US Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit held that the ninety-five-year copyright protection period cannot be extended simply by altering these two century-old literary characters in subsequent plots.]

[Once the copyright of the original stories expires, the character portrayals within those stories become freely available for fair use by subsequent authors.]

[The Conan Doyle Estate only holds the copyright to the final ten Sherlock Holmes stories, and by the year 2020, all copyrights will have expired entirely, at which point The Complete Sherlock Holmes will officially enter the public domain!]

[This means that Zhang Chu's book, Sherlock, does not constitute any copyright infringement and can be legally published and distributed in the United States!]

The four of them finished reading the news almost simultaneously, and then let out a collective sigh of relief in unison.

Strictly speaking, this had nothing to do with An Mi, Yang Ling, and the others, yet they shared a powerful sense of solidarity.

For the moment, no one remembered any traditional college mindset as they eagerly and excitedly began to chat.

"You're making the news again. This is completely different from what I imagined college would be like—having such a famous roommate," Sun Ruiqi exclaimed with deep emotion. His four years of university life were probably not going to have a single dull moment.

"Yeah! At first, I thought you were going to lose this lawsuit. It wasn't until I watched the news analysis on TV about those American lawyers' backgrounds and legal clauses that I believed you were guaranteed to win!"

"What kind of procedures are even needed to fight a lawsuit in America?"

The smile on Zhang Chu's face grew increasingly pronounced. The protracted lawsuit had finally drawn to a close, relieving him of that lingering burden.

Before this ruling came out, Dream Dragon Culture Media and various overseas television stations lacked confidence when negotiating copyrights. Now that the work could see the light of day in the United States fair and square, it would undoubtedly hold an even greater attraction for those television stations and film production companies.

"You guys will just have to get used to it. Get used to having such an awesome roommate."

Yang Ling muttered, "We should be getting used to having a roommate who is an absolute goofball!"

...

Online, the news of Zhang Chu's victory was creating an equally massive uproar. The poor reporters and news editors had to work overtime into the night to publish the related updates.

Nighttime was when various app user numbers peaked, and beneath the headlines on Toutiao, Sina News, Tencent News, and NetEase News, tens of thousands of comments poured in, boasting an astonishing readership volume.

Meanwhile, towering threads were being built across numerous online forums. On the Baidu Tieba trending discussion list, Zhang Chu's victory climbed all the way to the top. Massive mega-threads were thriving in the Hupu Walking Street community, and discussions buzzed away in QQ groups and WeChat groups, let alone Weibo!

This was a trending topic across the entire internet. Much like a classic web novel trope of an underdog turning the tables and slapping faces in triumph, an ordinary minor writer had actually gone abroad and overturned a massive literary estate—it felt utterly surreal, like something straight out of a dream.

"Just the other day I thought the result was already out. Turns out the verdict only came down now."

"We desperately need someone as thorough and persistent as Zhang Chu. Why should anyone hand over money to that estate for free? Who knows how many authors and companies they've bled dry over the years!"

"Thumps up for Zhang Chu! Commendable courage!"

"He actually won the lawsuit! I honestly thought Zhang Chu was going to lose."

"Gotta hand it to them, foreign countries are still pretty good when it comes to this sort of thing. I hope to see the film and television adaptations soon."

"Didn't they say a while back that some TV stations were fighting to buy the rights? How come there's no news now? Could it just be hype generated by Zhang Chu's team?"

...

*Knock, knock, knock.*

A sudden sound of knocking echoed out.

The door to Dormitory 222 was propped wide open for ventilation, and the abrupt sound caused all four of them to turn their heads simultaneously.

Zhang Chu initially thought someone from the neighboring or opposite dorm was coming over to hang out, but to his surprise, standing at the dormitory entrance was Jia Zhi, the assistant counselor he had seen during registration, accompanied by another man in his thirties.

"It looks like you guys keep your dorm quite well-organized. May we come in?"

The unfamiliar man spoke, his eyes surveying the dormitory's environment—simple yet tidy, with belongings neatly arranged.

An Mi stood up and said with a smile, "Please, come in, come in."

"This is Liao Wangyang, the counselor for your class, Teacher Liao. He has something to tell you," Jia Zhi introduced.

Zhang Chu and the others had merely been aware of this person's existence; they hadn't expected the counselor to conduct a dorm inspection in person, and they had no idea what it was specifically about.

Teacher Liao looked slightly short and plump, but he exuded a very amiable and approachable demeanor without a shred of airs.

He spoke simply, "It's nothing major. I just wanted to see if you're settling in comfortably here at Yan-Da, and by the way, to inform you that tomorrow afternoon at 3:30 PM, we'll be holding a class meeting in Classroom 309 of the Li Zhaoji Humanities Building. I'll go over important matters regarding daily life and studies then. You can also take a look at the freshman handbook right now; it has detailed descriptions."

"Teacher Liao, what time exactly is it?" Yang Ling asked.

Liao Wangyang patted his forehead. "Six-thirty in the evening. Be punctual and don't be late! Oh, and Zhang Chu, you have an arduous task on your shoulders."

"Me?"

Zhang Chu asked in puzzled反问. He had no idea what the counselor wanted with him. He just prayed it wasn't some class officer position, which he would flatly refuse without a second thought.

"Director Yan of our department recommends you to represent all incoming freshmen and give a speech at this year's freshman opening ceremony. Do you think you could hardship yourself and write the draft within the next day or two? The ceremony will be held sharp at nine o'clock next Monday morning."