Federal agencies are directed, as a matter of U.S. Federal policy, to provide free, immediatepublic access to peer-reviewed scholarly publications that are produced with support from Federalresearch grant funding. Because copyright vests in the author of the work, agencies must havepermission from the author in order to provide that access. A government-wide regulation, in placesince 1976, constitutes one possible source for the needed permission. The “Federal PurposeLicense” provides that, as a condition of Federal funding, grant recipients issue the granting agencya non-exclusive license to use all works subject to copyright and either developed or acquiredunder the grant. The License allows the agency to “reproduce, publish, or otherwise use the workfor Federal purposes and to authorize others to do so.” The License is functionally the same asother license agreements between parties. As a first priority license, the Federal Purpose Licensesurvives all subsequent copyright transfers, allowing authors to comply with grant terms andagencies to comply with their public access mandates.The License provides familiar language and consistency across agencies, helping simplifythe compliance and subsequent publication process for grant recipients. The License allows theagency to make many uses, and also allows the agency to authorize third parties to do so, but it isalso constrained. The scope of the License depends on the meaning of “Federal Purposes,” whichis undefined but is likely tied to the purposes underlying the License itself to support research andprovide the public with a return on its investment. Agencies desiring more permissive languagemay supplement the License with their own regulations, and some have done so.