Open Source/Open Access Solutions
Creative Commons (CC) is an organization built with the help of copyright attorneys that provides an alternative copyright license that allows the creator to choose how the work can be distributed, remixed, tweaked, and built upon (even for commercial work). Often the creator needs attribution as the original author.
SHERPA/ROMEO provides information on journals' copyright policies and author's self-archiving rights. Authors can check copyright permissions for journals to which they may submit or journals in which they have been published. While not all journals and publishers are currently included, this searchable database is vast and ever-expanding.
Open Source Resources are programs that are created by peers for the purpose of being distributed and used freely. They use a peer review process for development and improvement of the software. Open sources resources usually cannot be used for commercial purposes or with commercial products. The Open Source Initiative provides great information about open source.
Open Access Resources are often still under copyright but can be freely used in various ways. The Open Access model simply shifts the cost from the user to others in the publishing supply chain. You must use the same methods to evaluate how you can use OA materials as you would any other work. Cite open access materials as you would any other work. Check to see if the work has a creative commons license and follow the guidelines of the license. There are many open access journals (see a list at the Directory of Open Access Journals - DOAJ: and open access repositories (see a list at the Directory of Open Access Repositories - OpenDoar).