Here’s Why Fans Are Pissed That Wanna One’s Company Is Banning Fansites From Filming At Their Concerts

Fans have been expressing their anger over the stricter copyright control Wanna One’s new agency has been imposing.

Wanna One has recently switched their agency from YMC Entertainment to Swing Entertainment, an agency that was created especially for managing Wanna One. Many staff who were in charge of Wanna One at YMC have apparently been moved to Swing Entertainment as well and all are focusing their efforts on their upcoming world tour.

Wanna One’s new agency has apparently been sending out warnings stating that uploaded photos and videos of the stars during their concerts are a violation of copyright and that they will take legal action against those who do not cooperate.

“This is the person in charge of WANNA ONE. We are sending this message as we have confirmed an infringement of our copyright.
The illegal recording of WANNA ONE’s concert uploaded on your Twitter is an act of copyright infringement and is a criminal act that can be severly punished.
We believe that direct punishment is not of utmost importance and instead, deliver a strict warning message and ask for your cooperation in preventing reoccurrence of the issue.
You will be taking civil/criminal legal responsibilities if this is not carried out and we ask that you notify us of the corrective measures you plan to take.
Thank you.”

A Pann user has explained fans’ frustration with the company’s announcement as they claim that it will only cause damage to Wanna One’s popularity and fame.

“You know how much influence hommas (home masters: those who run fan pages and upload quality photos/videos) have on the fandom, right? People see the photos taken by hommas and find new qualities and charms of the star. Honestly, it’s not an overstatement to say that the hommas are the ones who attract fandoms – they’re that important. When the hommas collect money and put up electronic signs, it can help the star become more well-known. No matter how much the idols promote, fans who cannot attend the actual events don’t know anything other than what is shown on television. That’s why photos by homma are so important to fans…but now they’re tracking everyone down and many have been deleting their posts.” ㅡ Pann User

The user then presented a photo taken by a homma and a capture of the same moment on television to prove the difference in quality.

What was more infuriating, according to the user, was that the agency was not doing much else to take care of the group.

“1. They still haven’t dealt with the sasaeng fans since their debut.
2. There’s no feedback whatsoever when members get hurt of make their fans worried.
3. They don’t take legal action against negative comments, sexual assault or rumors.
4. But the didn’t hesitate to provide feedback for the famous Eunju issue.
5. They don’t control the insane number of fangirls
6. They included a group photo of only 10 members in their concert DVD photo book, etc.”

The user continued to criticize the agency for their “unreasonable” demands and actions.

The user argued that if all hommas are banned from taking photos or videos during the upcoming 3 months during which Wanna One will be on their global tour, domestic fans will not be happy because it’s not like the agency is providing any photos/videos, Wanna One can’t go on live broadcast whenever they want and the domestic fans will not have any updates on the tour except for the 4 group concert photos.

Netizens’ responses were split. Many netizens agreed with the user in that they believed the agency was managing Wanna One in the wrong way.

• “They must think that if they ban hommas, they’ll sell more through their official site but if there are no hommas, we won’t know in which country Wanna One is performing wearing which clothing for the two-three months they’re on their global tour. Do you think they’re fandom, which is already becoming weak, will be able to endure for two-three months without any spoilers? How will fans not be exhausted with this kind of management.”
• “They suck at their job. I can hear fans leaving already…”
• “I don’t see why they’re doing this to the hommas; at least give us some spoilers firstㅋㅋㅋ”
• “Who doesn’t know it’s illegal? All we’re saying is that they’re not doing sh*t about other issues and only focusing on the things that affect their incomeㅋㅋㅋthey now have to go abroad to gather international fans since they don’t have any other contents and the domestic fans need something to endure the 3 months of global tour, if they catch all the hommas and have them delete everything how are they going to surviveㅋㅋㅋ”
• “You won’t understand why we’re so angry unless you sell Wanna One. We’re not angry simply because they’re catching hommas…”

Others disagreed and pointed out the fact that the act of taking photos/videos at concerts was in fact illegal.

• “Honestly, it’s illegal! Especially at concerts. They warn you so many times not to take the photos from the beginning. The last time I went to the concert, I was so annoyed with those long lenses hitting my face and shoulders. Just look at the official material. I seriously cannot understand, acting as if they’re some big shot ignoring regular fans like that.”
• “After reading this, people might think the agency only sees their artists as money and hommas do their job out of love voluntarily. But it’s perfectly normal for agencies to see their artists as money, what’s the problem. Stop complaining about something so obvious.”
• “Wow you guys are completely disregarding the law because it’s a good way to advertizeㅋㅋthis is the level of their fans”