Copyright

Copyrights are protections granted to authors, artists, composers, and publishers for their original creative works. The purpose of copyright protection is to encourage artists of all kinds to create new intellectual and creative works, which will promote human knowledge and development. The United States bases its copyright law on British common law and statutory law. Copyright protection was considered important enough to be included in the Constitution, and Congress passed the first copyright statute in 1790. The laws have been amended a number of times since, driven largely by changing technology.