A translator is an Author

A 16-year-old boy spent 24 hours at the police station for alleged forgery of Harry Potter and the deathly hallows : he published on his website a French version of the book, whereas the legal translation to be published by Gallimard is still in progress and shall be due in October.
 What is particularly weird is not that a boy that is still in high school was arrested because he put on-line a translated (in French) version of the book but the way this was announced in the media. It is a pity because a work like Ms Rowling's is such a good example for explaining some copyright issues.

First, I am always cross by the way media in general talk about piracy. They always stress on the fact that the work was offered for free and in a way this could excuse the illegal act. Yes of course, in a way, it is often worse when a forged work is for sale. Nevertheless, this is not pedagogical at all. The act is illegal when it is done without prior authorization, no matter it is offer for free or not. And this case is very significant : directly, no financial aspect but the financial consequences are huge when you think of the economical impact of Harry Potter.

Secondly, I think, one element should have been clearly exposed : the translator owns a copyright. A translation is a work and reveals the intellectual personality of its author. This present case is particularly relevant. The words invented by J.K. Rowling were a good example to re-affirm it. Words like Slytherin, muggle, Snape ... were created on the basis of other pre-existing words and the" sound" and the impression they produce is very important. For instance, the French name of Professor Snape is Professor Rogue, as Jean-François Ménard (the man who has alone translated in French the whole series) and it "traduces" perfectly (I think) in French, the name of this character.
So when announcing that someone has already translated the last volume, one should have indicate the name of M. Ménard who, when translating the first volumes, did an impressive work, producing the basic vocabulary for the series, respecting at the same time the original work.

Finally, another point : the efficiency of the translation  and its alleged professional quality has been reported. Of course, it is very impressive. But one of the question should be: was it possible to do it solo ? or is it an on-line collaborative work ?