Manufacturing Clause

Summary of Manufacturing Clause

A provision of U.S. copyright law which restricts importation of certain printed materials not manufactured in the United States. The manufacturing clause was incorporated into U.S. copyright law in 1891 as a means of preserving employment in the American printing industry; since that time, the law has been liberalized by several amendments. The current law (17 U.S.C. 601) stipulates that “a work consisting preponderandtly of nondramatic literary material in the English language”created by a U.S. citizen or resident may not be imported unless the work was physically manufactured in the United States or Canada. This requirement is satisfied if typesetting, platemaking, or other substantial manufacturing processes are undertaken in the U.S. or Canada.

The manufacturing clause does not apply to a work if the author was not a U.S. citizen or resident at the time the work was first published, or if the work was first published in a country adhering to the Universal Copyright Convention (read this and related legal terms for further details).

A limited exemption permitting entry of up to 2,000 copies of a nonconforming work may be obtained by the holder of the U.S. copyright upon application to the Copyright Office, Library of Congress. The import statement provided to the applicant by the Copyright Office must be presented to U.S. Customs to effect release of the merchandise.

The manufacturing clause will expire on July 1, 1986.

(Main Author: William J. Miller)