Copyright A copyright is a way to control the use of ideas. You cannot use other people's ideas. It is illegal to print, copy, sell, or distribute someone else's work. You may not change, translate, record, o r perform any part of an author’ s work. This requires permission . Also, it may be illegal to copy and paste other people's e-mail messages. Copying without permission equals theft. Copyright deals with more than ideas. It also deals with the way something is expressed. Copyrights exist in wide areas of creative work. These include written work, designs, and music. They also include paintings, photographs, and TV broadcasts. A copyright may be marked by © in the work. However, even if there is no symbol, the work is immediately protected by law as soon as the work is created. The Statute of Anne was the first copyright law. It was passed in England in 1710. Before the statute, the power of creation was held in the hands of select people and guilds. The statute applied to the general public, not just a privileged few. It protected the author of a work, not his guild. Also, it put a time limit on the copyright. A person had sole rights for 21 years. There is no doubt that copyright plays an important role in creativity. If writers have control over their own work, they feel safe to produce more. For most creators, the work and the legal right to the work are of equal concern. Such legal protection aids economic, cultural, and social development.