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 * State what limitations and exceptions to copyright are and why they exist
 * Name a few common exceptions and limitations to copyright

Have you ever made a copy of a creative work? Can you recall a time when you were studying and you included properly cited quotations in a research paper you wrote? Can you think of a way an exception or limitation to copyright has benefited you?

Acquiring Essential Knowledge

Copyright is not absolute. There are some uses of copyrighted works that do not require permission. These uses are limitations on the exclusive rights normally granted to copyright holders and are known as “exceptions and limitations” to copyright.

Fair use, fair dealing, and other exceptions and limitations to copyright are an extremely important part of copyright design. Some countries afford exceptions and limitations to copyright, such as fair dealing, while other countries do not offer them at all. If your use of another person’s copyrighted work is “fair use” or falls within another exception or limitation to copyright, then you are not infringing that creator’s copyright.

When legislators created copyright protections, they realized that allowing copyright to restrict all the possible uses of creative works could be highly problematic. For example, how could scholars and critics write about plays, books, movies, or other artworks without quoting from them? (It would be extremely difficult.) And would copyright holders be inclined to provide licenses or other permission to people whose reviews of their works might be negative? (Probably not.)

For this and a range of other reasons, certain uses are explicitly carved out from copyright to widely different degrees depending on the jurisdiction—including uses for the purposes of criticism, commentary, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, research, parody, and access for the visually impaired. The use of copyrighted works—or portions of those works—for these purposes is not an infringement of those works’ copyright when an exception or limitation to copyright applies. These uses are known as “fair use” or “fair dealing” in some parts of the world.