Copyright is a set of exclusive rights granted by the law of a jurisdiction to the author or creator of an original work, including the right to copy, distribute and adapt the work. Exceptions and limitations to these rights strive to balance the public interest in the wide distribution of the material produced and to encourage creativity. Exceptions include fair dealing and fair use, and such use does not require the permission of the copyright owner. All other uses require permission and copyright owners can license or permanently transfer or assign their exclusive rights to others.

Noun

copyright (usually uncountable; plural copyrights)

1. (uncountable) The right by law to be the entity which determines who may publish, copy and distribute a piece of writing, music, picture or other work of authorship.
2. (countable) Such an exclusive right as it pertains to one or more specific works.
3. (countable) The copyright symbol ©, a circumscribed C.

   If © is the international symbol for copyright, what should we use for the open source symbol?

Verb to copyright (third-person singular simple present copyrights, present participle copyrighting, simple past and past participle copyrighted)

1. To place under a copyright.
2. To obtain or secure a copyright for some literary or other artistic work.