Funny thing about anime: fan subs/dubs are why most anime publishers line up a translation during production now. They realized they were missing a big market. It's why the original Fullmetal Alchemist ('03-'04) was a fansub for a long time before an official NA release, while the recent remake came out in English[1] on Hulu days after airing in Japan.

A whole new import market sprung up because of what was technically piracy.

[1]With subtitles, but dubbed episodes started popping up on the Hulu page near the end of the show's run.