Meaning of the word "preponderantly." (cont'd)
in "importance." If a work consists preponderantly of exempted material, e.g., pictures,photographs, plays, or music, the manufacturing requirements do not apply and copies may be imported in unlimited quantities. However, in Stonehill Communications, Inc. v. Martuge, 512 F. Supp. 349 (S.D.N.Y. 1981), the Court found the "importance" test and the instructions in the legislative history vague and difficult to apply. "In the absence of congressional or duly authorized guidelines," stated the Court, "the answer is an objective test -- in this instance, a 'mechanical' one." The Court held that in the absence of any other standards, "a book 'consists of pre-ponderantly nondramatic literary material... in the English language' when more than half of its surface area, exclusive of margins, consists of English-language text."
Literary material of secondary importance. Where the literary material in a work consists merely of a foreword or preface, and captions, headings, or brief descriptions or explanations of pictorial, graphic, or other nonliterary material, the manufacturing requirements do not apply, and the Copyright Office will not issue an Import statement.
Literary material predominant. Where the pictorial, graphic, or other nonliterary material clearly forms less than one-half of a work in which nondramatic literary material predominates, the manufacturing requirements apply to the textual portion of the work, and an Import Statement will be issued on request.
Pictorial and literary material approximately equal. If the pictorial material and non dramatic literary material are approximately equal in importance or quantity, it is unclear whether the import restrictions apply, and an Import Statement will be issued on request.
