all that i know is that fan subbing shouldnt be illeagle in any light. the material is copyrighted for a spefic area (japan), if it is distributed to the US for free, the company in japan is not losing any money becasue they dont have the right to distribute it there yet.... if a company does distribute for free (Fan subbers) it to areas where rights havent been sold, i dont see how its illeagle. They cant make any money off of it there leagaly.

editing post: simple answer would be to ask a few fansubbing group members, they should know what is leagle and what is not.