Impatient Harry Potter fans have sparked a legal row by putting their own translations of J.K. Rowling's latest novel online.

The English-language edition of Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix was published worldwide in June by Bloomsbury but an official Chinese translation is not due for publication until September.

The unauthorized online translation had already covered 35 of the book's 38 chapters by Monday.

Those behind the online Chinese version stressed that their actions arose out of "personal interest and partly discontent at the slowness of the authorized publishing house.''

Supporters of the amateur translators said the online translation was not aimed at making a profit, which made it "totally different from illegal publishers''.

However, both legal experts and government officials said the translators of the online version have  violated the author's copyright.

A law professor surnamed Shen from Beijing's Renmin University of China said: "People are allowed to translate anything but have to keep it to themselves. Once their translations are accessible to the public, they have violated the author's copyright, no matter whether or not their purpose was to make a profit.''

Duan Yuping, an official with the State Press and Publication Administration, said that the Copyright Law stipulates that those who translate works without authorization and those who spread works through an information network without authorization have to bear civil and criminal responsibility.

"In this case, the translators of the online Chinese version will be investigated under the law only when the book's copyright owner sues,'' said Duan.

The administration only takes action against copyright violations that threaten the public interest, the official said.

The People's Literature Publishing House, the authorized publisher of the book's translation in simplified Chinese characters, said it would not sue the online translators because it has not acquired the right to publish the book in electronic form.

However, it said it is confident that sales of the authorized Chinese translation of Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix will not be affected by the spread of the online version.

The publisher's Sun Shunlin said: "To my knowledge, these online translators and the fans supporting them are actually firm supports of the authentic Harry Potter books. They may be among the first buyers of the authentic Harry Potter books.''

A fan who gave her name only as Fang said she would buy the authorized translation published by the People's Literature Publishing House because the language of the authorized Harry Potter translations is "so fluent and easy to read, unlike many other translated novels.''

The publishing house did worry about illegal publishers using the online translation to print pirated Harry Potter books, Sun said.

Sun said that he has seen six or seven pirated versions of Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix in some cities.

China's National Anti-Piracy and Pornography Working Committee is organizing action against pirated Harry Potter books to ensure the sale of the authorized books, according to the committee's Men Lijun.

(China Daily July 30, 2003)