Exceptions and Limitations in European Union Copyright Law

Abstract

Most countries, including all those in the EU, provide for exceptions and limitations to copyright by exhaustively listing and defining in their copyright laws all such permitted exceptions and limitations. The United States has been an exception in this respect, having instead a so called ‘fair use’ approach which provides four parameters for its courts to apply. Some EU Member States, unhappy at the inflexibility of their respective approaches to this issue are now starting to explore to what extent they can move towards a ‘fair use’ approach. This article considers why this issue has become a particular problem in the EU, what sort of scope EU Member States have to amend their national laws in such circumstances, and where further flexibilities might develop in the case law as a result of the courts applying principles from outside copyright law, notably on the basis of fundamental human rights.