Copyright exceptions

Copyright exceptions are the "user rights" defined in copyright law. In the UK, they are strictly defined, whereas in the USA, they are open ended, and defined by courts, when uses are challenged. The US approach is known as "fair use".

Copyright exceptions that are missing in the UK include format shifting and parody. There have been two major copyright reviews in the UK which have called for greater copyright flexibility, and therefore new exceptions, being the Gowers Review in 2006 and the Hargreaves Review in 2011.