Zero-copy cloning is a technique used in database systems to create quick duplicates of data without physically copying the data itself. The common use cases for zero-copy cloning include quick provisioning of Dev and Test/QA environments, as it allows developers to create working copies of the database in an efficient manner. Data backups can also benefit from zero-copy cloning since it enables logical copies of data to be kept for data recovery purposes. Point-in-time snapshots is another use case where zero-copy cloning is beneficial as it captures the state of the database at a specific point in time for future reference or recovery.