The number of open access policies from research groups and research centres, Universities, funding bodies, governments, national and international bodies is steadily increasing. Research funders have begun to take an interest in open access to ensure that the research which they fund reaches the largest possible audience, and to avoid the waste of public resources which results from the old system in which taxpayers pay once for research and a second time for access to its results. The paper describes a legal framework for institutional open access policies and provides an advise on the optimal open access policy options.