A copyright license gives a person or entity (“licensee") the authorization to use a work from the copyright owner, usually in exchange for payment. Copyright licenses may be exclusive or nonexclusive, and the rights that come with them vary according to the specifics of each license.

One of the most common copyright license situations is when an author licenses their publisher to publish, distribute, and sell their book. In return, the author receives compensation and/or royalties.

Open Licenses are a set of conditions applied to an original work that grant permission for anyone to make use of that work as long as they follow the conditions of the license.  A work refers to an original creation, such as a video, song, document, or piece of software, that can be copyright protected. The copyright owner – usually the creator of the work, whether an individual, a group, or a company/organization – can choose to openly license their work if they want others to be able to use it freely, build on it, customize it or improve it.  Open licenses therefore give permission to anyone to use the work at no cost, and generally allow anyone to modify the work with no or minimal restriction (such as acknowledging the original author’s work).

It is common for authors to assign copyright in journal articles to the journal or publisher. Whereas, generally, when publishing a book, the author will grant the publisher a license. In signing a copyright transfer agreement, the author grants all their rights as author and copyright holder to the publisher.