“Limitation,” according to Black’s Law Dictionary, refers to the act of limiting; the state of being limited, a restriction.  The word “limits,” in addition to “exceptions,” refers to “boundaries” or “restrictions”. In order to maintain an appropriate balance between the interests of rights holders and users of protected works, copyright laws allow certain limitations on economic rights, that is, cases in which protected works may be used without the authorization of the right holder and with or without payment of compensation.

The Berne Convention for the Protection of Literary and Artistic Works (1971) sets conditions under which authors’ rights could be limited, and free uses therefore permitted.
A three-step-test has been devised to determine the conditions under which an act of limitation may be carried out. This test has been extended to Article 13 of the World Trade Organization (WTO) Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property (TRIPS Agreement), Article 10 of the WIPO Copyright Treaty (WCT), as a test for exceptions and limitations on all economic rights under copyright.  Article 16 of the WIPO Performances and Phonographs Treaty (WPPT) extends it to rights of performers and producers of phonograms covered by that treaty.