Chinese fans post Potter translations

The official Chinese translation of the final Harry Potter book won't be out for nearly three months, but eager fans have posted their own translations online.

China's authorized publisher of "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows" on Wednesday denounced the freelance translators and urged them to delete their versions.

Translations of several "Deathly Hallows" chapters were posted on Potter fan Web site "International Wizards' Alliance." Some chapters were restricted to registered users, but a reporter could access at least two chapters Wednesday without signing in.

A notice on the Web site, however, said its "translation team" has been disbanded because of unspecified reasons. Contact information for the Web site's operator was not immediately available.

A marketing executive at Beijing-based The People's Literature Publishing House, which holds the China rights to the Harry Potter series, said it has complained to authorities about the unofficial translations.

"They should be deleted according to China's laws," Sun Shunlin told The Associated Press by phone.

But Sun said the publisher had no legal grounds to sue the unofficial translators because it does not hold the electronic publication rights to the Potter books in China.

China's General Administration of Press and Publication did not immediately respond to a fax seeking comment.

Sun said the official Chinese language version of "Deathly Hallows" would be published in China on Oct. 28.

He said piracy of the Potter series, which has sold nearly 9 million legal copies in China, has declined.

"There has been a very strong crackdown on pirated copies in the past two years. By the sixth book, there weren't that many pirated copies. There were fewer pirated copies than for other books," Sun said.

China has long been the world's leading source of counterfeit goods, including designer clothes, movies and music. The country has been under pressure to crack down, especially ahead of next year's summer Olympics in Beijing.