Eyes opened about anime translations

"On Translation Errors & Criticism" is a translator of Japanese works attempting to explain to fans who like to rage about translations being "wrong" what "wrong" actually means, along with some notes about the conditions translators work under. Which included this little shocker:

We very rarely have access to the author. In fact, many companies expressly forbid the translator from contacting the author of the work they are translating. You can lose your job if you try.

What.

I'm pretty sure I've read about conversations English-language authors have had with the people translating their work into foreign languages and assumed that was the norm. Is it just for books? Is it just for works being translated from English?