Modern copyright laws grant authors a broad set of rights to control exploitations of their works. Typically tempering the reach of these broad rights are a series of limitations and exceptions (L&Es) adopted by legislatures or by courts through common law adjudication. L&E provisions in national copyright laws often seem like a hodgepodge of special purpose provisions whose policy justifications are sometimes difficult to discern.

This chapter discusses a set of policy justifications for L&Es and considers the relative utilities of specific and open-ended L&Es. Its principal focus will be on U.S. law, although it will feature examples of L&Es embodied in other national copyright laws and authorized by international treaties.