Copyright law begins with the premise that the copyright owner has exclusive rights to many uses of protected works, however, these rights are never unrestricted. Restrictions are imposed in various ways, one such way is, copyright exceptions or fair use provisions. It permits the use of copyrighted works for certain specified purposes without the consent of the creator. The doctrine of fair use originated as an equitable doctrine permitting the use of certain works that copyright law would otherwise have prohibited, prohibiting such uses would stifle the creativity that the law is designed to promote. These permitted acts are carved out to prevent the conflict between the creators, disseminators and society. The researcher intends to highlight the development of the concept of fair use and its rationale.