I. THE ROLE OF COPYRIGHT EXCEPTIONS AND THE PUBLIC INTEREST
Although copyright law grants exclusive rights for copyright owners, it also provides
exceptions to exclusive rights allowing users to access and use copyright works in certain
circumstances. In this regard, Walker identifies the role of copyright exceptions in balancing
private and public interests as a means to promote innovative societies.1
He observes that the
primary justification for granting limited property rights in the form of copyright is that such
privilege will benefit society as a whole by promoting innovation and creation.2
The copyright
system, at both international and domestic levels, has therefore sought to strike a balance
between maintaining the incentive for creativity by protecting the economic interest of
copyright owners and protecting public interest with regard to access to materials and
information.3
In this respect, such exceptions to the exclusive rights play an important role in
protecting public interest by allowing the public to access or use copyright works in certain
circumstances without paying remuneration fees or infringing the exclusive rights of the owners.4
Without the copyright exceptions, it would be inconvenient for users to obtain
copyright materials as they would be required to request permission and pay for using materials
in every case, whether the extent of use is considered to be small or large. In this context, the
copyright exceptions help the public to eliminate transaction costs, such as licensing fees or
remuneration fees, since when the purpose of such uses falls within the scope of the exceptions,
the reproductions can be done without the payment of royalty fees. Thus, the notion of
balancing the interests cannot operate in practice without the use of copyright exceptions as a
tool for safeguarding public interests.