Originally Posted by
Bloodflowers
From my limited understanding things aren't as "gray" as thy are often portrayed to be.
A translation is considered a "derivative work". As such you need a license from the copyrights holder to publish it. You're free to translate for yourself, you just can't publish it. And no, publishing it online for free in boards like this is not allowed.
However, as a translator you also have your rights. Though it is a derivative work it is YOUR work, and as such others can't distribute it without your consent (not even the original's copyrights holder).
What happens is that more often than not the original authors either don't know about the fan translations or just don't care. And when they do know and care, they take no action because the audiences that the translations serve would not, under the circumstances (i.e. absence of translation) buy their work anyway, and also because they benefit from the added publicity.
There is very very little to gain and lot to lose from chasing fan translators.