The Curtain Falls

Chapter 75 The Curtain Falls

Perhaps because Milrova's leadership was so eager to prove themselves, Sidley Austin's lawyers appeared before Ethan again early the next morning. They told Ethan that Milrova's representatives would arrive in San Francisco the following morning and wanted to begin negotiations at 10 a.m.

Ethan readily agreed and then relayed the message to both parties.

On one side was Professor Barbara Babcock, Ethan's lawyer, who was required to be present at the negotiations and help review the contract. Ethan was extremely polite to this helpful sorceress. On the other side were the Atari, whose attitude Ethan adopted was far more hostile. His message boiled down to two words—money!

Nolan Bushnell and Don Valentine were furious at Ethan's crude and vulgar threat, but in order to sell the company smoothly and not let their hard work go to waste, they still came over with two documents at noon.

One document is an early termination agreement regarding "Snake Game," and the other is a statement regarding liability for infringement.

The former is generally unremarkable, except for one noteworthy point: the sales figures for Snake Game. After Atari's revisions, the sales figures for the Midwestern United States were increased from less than three and a half million to just over eight million.

With this, Snake Game's total sales in North America exceeded 15 million.

Ethan Jones and Evelyn Jensen's share of the profits also jumped from $1.3 million to $2.2 million.

The latter stated that Atari infringed on Milrova's patent due to its own negligence, and they would bear all the compensation for it.

Of course, there was also a cap, 1.5 million.

Barbara reviewed the contract and confirmed there were no problems. Ethan and Evelyn then signed it. At 3 p.m. that afternoon, when Ethan went to Wells Fargo to check his accounts, his personal account showed an additional $1.1 million, updated in real time.

This number made him laugh and shake his head. "The IRS is still awesome!"

"The moment you mention reporting tax evasion, Atari immediately backs down!"

"You embezzled nearly a million from us?"

"It seems they never intended to pay for the compensation themselves in the first place!"

Yes, Ethan Jones only discovered a problem after Atari made up the difference between the Midwest and ZD regions.

The amount of money Atari embezzled appears to be comparable to the amount Mirova is seeking in compensation.

If it weren't for all that mess before, Ethan would have just thought it was a coincidence, but now...

HE...TUI!

After receiving the money, Ethan straightened his back considerably, and his negotiations with Milova the next day proceeded with a smile.

Initially, Mirova's representatives tried to manipulate the sales ban agreement, creating a one-year term similar to Atari's. However, after Ethan presented them with Atari's liability statement regarding infringement, Mirova's representatives immediately fell silent.

"Mr. Jones, since Atari will be covering the compensation, shall we set the figure at two million?"

Milrohua's representatives displayed nothing but greed.

"That's too much, it doesn't make sense. I think 1.2 million is enough," Ethan said, shaking his head.

The Mirova representative persisted, "This figure is impossible for me to explain to the general manager, so, one million eight hundred thousand?"

"I know what you're thinking. You just want Atari's money. So I'll give you a little extra, 1.3 million."

Ethan was very generous.

However, the next second, the Milrova representative shouted again, "Mr. Jones! Don't you hate Atari?"

Ethan couldn't stand it when he heard this.

"The maximum compensation I agreed upon with Atari is 1.5 million, and you can have it all. But I have one condition: after we reach a settlement, when you buy press releases, you must place all the blame on Atari. Is that acceptable?"

Are you sure?

"Sure!"

"Sign the contract!"

"Sign the contract!"

This tug-of-war left the lawyers at Sidley Austin's firm completely stunned.

In all their years in the industry, they have never seen an infringer voluntarily increase compensation.

And judging from this, Atari will still be the one to pay the compensation?

What's going on?

They couldn't understand it.

Although Professor Barbara fared slightly better than them, it wasn't by much. After everything was over, as Ethan drove her home, she asked curiously on the way, "Ethan, you signed a compensation contract with Milova directly according to the agreed-upon maximum? Aren't you afraid Atari won't be able to afford it?"

"Why would I be afraid?" Ethan said with a smile, "I'm just making Atari give back all the money they've earned."

"Snake Game's North American revenue is currently $15 million. Based on a 30% profit margin, Atari should have earned $4.5 million from this project. Evelyn and I received $2.6 million from this project, which means that after deducting our share, Atari still has $1.9 million left."

"Even if they pay 1.5 million in compensation, they will still have 400,000 in profit."

"Although this money cannot cover Milova's subsequent claims, Atari also manipulated the accounts."

"They must have hidden some money, so they can definitely afford to pay it back."

"Since we've already fallen out, why should I keep that income for them?"

"I admit I don't like Milrohua, but their rights protection actions are fine; they act in accordance with the law, and I respect that."

"In that case, I would rather Milrova get the money than let Atari keep the profits."

"Because of Atari, disgusting."

Barbara shook her head repeatedly at Ethan's words.

As she pursed her lips in dismay, realizing that Ethan wasn't as kind as she'd imagined, Ethan, who was driving, posed another question to her: "Ms. Barbara, isn't there something else we need to resolve?"

"What's wrong?"

"Your legal fees."

When the word "lawyer's fee" appeared, Barbara paused for a moment, then smiled and said, "I also have some issues in this matter, so just pay the minimum standard. File it with the bar association, as long as they don't cause me any trouble."

In the United States, there are minimum fees for practicing lawyers; the association doesn't allow them to charge arbitrary fees.

But ultimately, the lawyer decides how much to charge.

If Barbara Babcock were to follow market rates, her hourly consultation fees would be astronomical, unaffordable for most middle-class individuals these days. She charges the minimum rate because she doesn't take on outside clients; all her work is done through personal connections and maintaining relationships.

The amount was set out in this way when the agency agreement was signed.

But if she doesn't accept it, Ethan Jones can't possibly refuse to give it to her, right?

After dropping Barbara off at home, Ethan Jones asked through the car window, "Professor Barbara, when will your case study collection be released?"

"What's going on at the end of the year?"

"I want to buy a thousand copies and donate them, along with other books, to some universities and municipal libraries in the west. Although I don't understand law, I think your case collection will definitely be educational and exemplary, and will bring enlightenment to the public."

This suggestion made Barbara stare at Ethan for a long time before finally laughing. "Oh, Ethan, I love this gift."

"Since you're going to donate books, then I won't stand on ceremony with you."

"I'll tell you after the book is published."

"Okay, Ms. Barbara, I'll wait for your reply." Her smile earned Ethan's thumbs-up, followed by a wave.

Then I stepped on the gas and sped back to my aunt's house.

He slammed the settlement agreement in front of Thomas and Linda, shouting, "Thomas, Linda, things are settled!"

He wanted to put the elderly people who cared about him at ease.

Then he picked up the phone at home and contacted the friend who had inquired about the matter and comforted him before:

"Hey Frank...it's all sorted out...really~ Can't you tell from my words? I'm so happy right now~"

"Oh Chuck... thank you, thank you for your concern... it was all a misunderstanding... yes, yes, yes..."

"Hi Steve... Thank you so much for your help... Yes! You got me out of this mess!"

He wanted to reassure his friends who were helping him.

After reporting that he was safe and thanking them, Ethan felt completely relaxed.

That evening, he had a great appetite and ate two chickens.

…………

Mirova was actually very efficient. A settlement was reached with Ethan on the morning of September 22nd, and on the morning of September 24th, Ethan, who was having breakfast at home with the TV on, heard the following news—

According to information obtained by our reporter, on September 23, 1975, Milrova and Atari signed another settlement agreement, reaching a consensus on the copyright infringement issue of *Snake Game*. This infringement may have been caused by Atari, and the compensation involved may have exceeded two million dollars. Furthermore, after the infringement was confirmed, the two inventors of *Snake Game* terminated their cooperation with Atari. Since all three parties declined to be interviewed, we do not know the specific details of this matter. Even so, we still want to ask Nolan Bushnell here: why did Atari infringe on our copyright multiple times in such a short period of time?

"Does Atari have to resort to repeated copyright infringement to grow and thrive?"

"Does Atari only profit by skirting the law and plundering other people's wealth?"

"If that's the case, we advise Nolan Bushnell to dissolve the company as soon as possible!"

"While the United States is a liberal country, and California boasts a comfortable and free atmosphere, this cannot justify Nolan Bushnell's repeated disregard for the law!"

"If he leads Atari to continue trampling on the law, then the ultimate consequence will inevitably be the severe punishment of the law!"

This report made Ethan look up with a smile.

Such a targeted diss is clearly a press release that Mirowa bought himself.

If nothing unexpected happens, this will still be using Atari's compensation money.

Ethan was even happier at the thought that Atari would be furious after seeing the news that they had obtained the money through their own compensation.

There's nothing I can do; he's just an ordinary person who enjoys this kind of retaliation.

And when September 28th arrived, another shocking piece of news spread throughout the United States—

According to ABC News, Warner Bros. will acquire Atari for $15 million. After the acquisition, Warner Bros. will become Atari's sole shareholder, and Nolan Bushnell will continue to serve as the company's CEO.

This fact made Ethan, who was leaning back on the sofa, stretch.

The decline in Atari's valuation is the best gift for him.

The comfort of the soft sofa made him squint his eyes.

"It's finally over," he said with a smile.

"So, what's next..."

"Now it's my turn to crush you all!"

(Volume 1: The Origin of All Things - Atari - End)

(End of this chapter)