The study aims to discuss on legal prospects of digital collections' fair use through an analysis of treaties and legislations domestic and international. Based on analysis of leading researches and literature, it discusses legal principles of fair use and defines digital collections' concept and types. For understanding the actual legal system on fair use, limitations and exceptions of copyrights which are presented in treaties, such as 'Berne Convention for the Protection of Literary and Artistic Works' and'Copyright Convention', each nation's laws, and judicial precedents. Especially, a legal dispute between 'Technische <TEX>$Universit{\ddot{a}}t$</TEX> Darmstadt' and Eugen Ulmer KG, which debates on library's rights for digitizing their collections without the rightholder's permission, is analyzed. As a result, this study analyzes its implications for the improvement of the existing copyright system in Korea.