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Are you sure? I'm pretty sure the law has been updated to allow natural clearing agents as long as they're completely filtered out before bottling.

The Reinheitsgebot sounds like a good reason for brewers to be lawyerly about what counts as an "ingredient". So traditionally they used it but claimed it wasn't an ingredient, and then when mechanical filtration improved, they decided that was a safer course.

The Reinheitsgebot is more of a myth though:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=th-f1ztar_U

Since it's not an ingredient, the reinheitsgebot doesn't apply – none of the filter ends up in the final product. Hausenblase was used heavily for centuries, but nowadays it's simply too expensive to bother with.

Is that still the law?

Also, it may not be considered an ingredient so much as a tool or technique...

It isn't a law anymore. But I do not know one beer brewery which doesn't still brew according to it. However, the food industry is usually quite creative in bending the rules...

From a quick googling - it looks like finings were allowed, as they aren't strictly an ingredient.