This chapter starts from the end of the freedom of translation in the Romantic period. Until the middle of the nineteenth century, anything could be translated and published by anyone; there was no distinction between protected contemporary literature and classics in the public domain. The freedom of translation in the Romantic period was characterized not only by the lack of any legal control—which connects it with the Early Modern freedom to translate texts into other languages—but also, and just as much, by the potential revalorization of translation into a creative act. One reason for this new creative understanding was the growing theory of copyright. The chapter therefore combines translation theory and copyright theory.