Still a derivative work. In the same way that you can take a copyrighted novel and rephrase all the scenes in your own words - and the result is still a derivative, and still can't be distributed without the permission of the copyright holder on the original.

You can't just translate Harry Potter and sell it or give it away for free.

edit: fixed analogy

But the creators/translators of these subtitles weren't selling them, they uploaded them for free.

I guess argument could be made that the actual site owner made money from ads (assuming there were ads on the site).

You can't just translate Harry Potter and distribute it.

Well I personally think that translating and distributing spoken dialogue from a film is quite different from translating a distributing a book. It's like song lyrics in my opinion.

I realize that it is likely just as illegal according to today's copyright laws, but that something like this would warrant a police raid is just beyond me.

that does not matter at all, you are "stealing" "intellectual property".

yeah, those word are a dumb concept.

I don't know about translations, but in many derivate works, what happens is that the work is covered both by the original copyright and a new copyright hold by the creator of the new work.

The creator is still prohibited from distributing the work without securing a license from the copyright holder of the original work.

>Even if the subtitles are a translation?

Yes. Even for a book, you have to buy the rights for your language/country to be able to legally put out a translation.