User blog:Katzenbär/In regards of unlicensed dubs/voice-overs

It has come to the attention of various members of the Dubbing Database's staff that users (and sometimes, even ourselves) don't exactly know how to handle international versions of media that have been translated without the consent of the copyright owners - in short terms, illegal dubs.

Our rules about these are currently unclear. Obviously, we don't intend to include fanmade dubs in the wiki - but what determines the difference between what's considered an unlicensed dub and a fandub? The line is very blurry. Take these different cases as examples:


 * Illegal Persian dubs: it's widely known that legal Persian dubs aren't the norm. In fact, it's quite the opposite, as finding an official dub in this language is pretty uncommon. These are typically distributed through TV stations in Iran, or more recently, paid streaming services such as Filimo, Namava, Digitoon, and more, and they're widely accepted in the wiki and can be seen listed in multiple articles.
 * Illegal Russian/Ukrainian dubs: unlicensed dubs and voice-overs of shows and movies in these languages can be found everywhere on the internet, but are disregarded in the wiki as fandubs. They're usually distributed through torrents or illegal streaming websites, that despite not usually requiring any sort of payment, have ads that have ads that help pay the costs.
 * Illegal Georgian voice-overs: a very similar case to the last one, except it has a more varied reception amongst editors. Some disregard these VOs as fandubs, while others (myself included) don't. They're usually distributed AND produced by illegal streaming websites (such as Poti.ge) aswell, and often include ads to Russian gambling websites.

Personally, I think that as long as it's not literally made by fans and has commercial purposes (like the dubs/VOs that are exclusively hosted by free websites supported by ads) it's not a fandub, but this definition is not universal, and everyone seems to follow their own. This is why, hopefully, we'll be able to set clear rules about these cases listed above in the near future, but for that we need to hear what the users think. What requirements do you think we should follow for determining whether a dub should be listed or not? Please let us know!

''[PLEASE NOTE that the Dubbing Database will ALWAYS list illegal dubs as long as they're broadcast on TV or available behind a paywall. This discussion is in regards of illegal dubs that don't meet this criteria].''