The Manufacturing clause was a

clause In language, a clause is a Constituent (linguistics), constituent or Phrase (grammar), phrase that comprises a semantic predicand (expressed or not) and a semantic Predicate (grammar), predicate. A typical clause consists of a subject (grammar), ...

contained in

copyright A copyright is a type of intellectual property that gives its owner the exclusive legal right to copy, distribute, adapt, display, and perform a creative work, usually for a limited time. The creative work may be in a literary, artistic, ...

legislation requiring that as a condition of obtaining copyright, all copies of a work must be printed or otherwise produced domestically, from plates set domestically, rather than imported. In the United States, a manufacturing clause was included in the

International Copyright Act of 1891 The International Copyright Act of 1891 (, March 3, 1891) is the first U.S. congressional act that extended limited protection to foreign copyright holders from select nations. Formally known as the "International Copyright Act of 1891", but more ...

, which allowed certain non-resident aliens to obtain U.S. copyrights for the first time. The clause initially covered books, maps, photographs, and

lithographs Lithography () is a planographic method of printing originally based on the miscibility, immiscibility of oil and water. The printing is from a stone (lithographic limestone) or a metal plate with a smooth surface. It was invented in 1796 by ...

, and was subsequently extended to periodicals as well. Its extension to all other media was proposed in the 1897 Treloar Copyright Bill, which failed in committee. The manufacturing clause did not expire until 1986, keeping the United States out of the Berne Convention until 1989.

See also

References