How does fan channels work?

Contributing
1

Hi!
I’ve been reading different discussions and what Viki said about fan channels but I don’t get exactly how they work. If I understood it correctly the videos are uploaded from a source other than Viki. When creating a fan channel, do we have to wait for the show to become licensed or can videos be uploaded and subbed even though it’s not licensed yet?

2

Yes, this is correct.

I think there are different guidelines for this (though I haven’t seen any official info about it), depending on where the content originates from. For example, I’ll see fan channels for Korean content, but they will rarely (if ever) post videos and subs unless the content is licensed. On the other hand, I’ll often see fan channels for Chinese content, and teams will post videos and work on subs without issue.

The biggest concern with subbing shows on fan channels is that there’s always the chance of copyright complaints (either to Viki or the video host). That means that your videos and subs might be taken down at any point, and all your efforts can disappear without warning.

3

I am not the most experienced with fanchannels but this is what I know:

  1. When you apply for a channel and it gets approved it is automatically a fanchannel. It will only become an official channel when Viki gets the license to the show. Best example: https://www.viki.com/tv/26576c-reply-1988-1988 -> no license -> fanchannel

  2. You can upload videos yourself to fanchannels, I think I read somewhere from Youtube and Vimeo.

  3. You can seg and sub the videos you upload, even the show is not licensed.

  4. If a complaint comes in regarding the videos on the fanchannel Viki will have to delete the whole channel. That’s why most subbers/editors don’t work on fan channels, it’s just too much work to have it suddenly deleted. (The first channel I worked on as a mod was a fan channel, it got a complaint and was deleted… all hard work gone.)

Anyone who knows more please add to/correct what I wrote :smiley:

I personally wouldn’t work on a fan channel again though one of my favourite shows ever is a fan channel here on Viki :smiley:

2 Likes
4

Thank you for the answers! So if I submit a channel and it gets approved it will become a fan channel and if it gets licensed it will become a main channel. So most people wait for license before subtitling so their work won’t get deleted? So if I understand correctly, if I submit a channel and it gets approved I can start recruiting a team however I should wait with the subs until the show gets licensed?

5

Yes, I guess that’s what most people do :smiley:
Just keep in mind that it will be more difficult to get licenses for some shows. For example, current Korean dramas are very likely to get a license (with the exception of some where other providers seem to have claimed complete TV stations and all their drama-licenses…) while other countries are not so lucky. There seem to be a lot Taiwanese Dramas now while I think they still have problems with the Japanese ones… But I am not too sure on that. You can try to submit any channel, they will tell you if they can approve it or not :wink:

Also it depends on how many people request a show, then the chance is higher that Viki will try to negotiate. At least that’s how it is supposed to work, sometimes I am not too sure about that :smiley:

So for Korean dramas for example most of the team is already done when they get a license. I have a channel of a Korean movie and the only people on the team right now are people that messaged me first about wanting to be on the team. Since the chance of getting a Korean (relatively new) movie licensed are very low I am just going to wait and not put any work into that yet because who knows if they ever get a license… :wink:

6

Something I noticed is that if the videos are deleted from youtube or dailymotion then the channel doesn’t get deleted by viki and the subtitles are still available that means you can always download them on your computer and try to find videos somewhere and then you can watch it at least at home.
And of course they can be translated to other languages other than english as well even though there aren’t any videos

7

It’s too bad that you can’t just suggest a fan channel to see what interest it may have. I’ve been very interested in seeing Two Soul in One which is a Chinese Drama on Viki. It’s out now but hasn’t been translated into English. I don’t have the ability to do the translation because I don’t understand Mandarin.