-- is that, under the common law, exceptions are interpreted in a restrictive manner. In the final analysis, the exceptions have little impact on the rights of creators and the court's approach was to limit them.
The ruling in the CCH case developed a concept which, as far as I know, exists nowhere else in the world—namely, the rights of users. It didn't say that users are entitled to exceptions, but it did say that where exceptions are provided for in the Act, they should be broadly and liberally interpreted in order to give effect to users' rights.