President Donald Trump has dismissed Shira Perlmutter as Register of Copyrights, the head of the U.S. Copyright Office, in a sudden termination first reported by CBS News and Politico. The move was seemingly confirmed by Representative Joe Morelle, the top Democrat on the House Administration Committee.
Morelle condemned the firing as “a brazen, unprecedented power grab with no legal basis,” suggesting it came less than 24 hours after Perlmutter refused to approve Elon Musk’s efforts to use copyrighted material for AI training. “It is surely no coincidence he acted less than a day after she refused to rubber-stamp Elon Musk’s efforts to mine troves of copyrighted works to train AI models,” Morelle said in a statement.
Perlmutter, who took leadership of the Copyright Office in 2020 during Trump’s first term, was appointed by then-Librarian of Congress Carla Hayden – whom Trump also removed from her position earlier this week. The President appeared to acknowledge the termination by resharing a CBS News report about it on his Truth Social platform, though the accompanying commentary from attorney Mike Davis seemed critical of the decision.
The firing comes amid ongoing debate about how copyright law applies to artificial intelligence. This week, the Copyright Office released the third installment of a report examining copyright and AI issues. While noting each case must be evaluated individually, the report states that commercial use of copyrighted works to create AI systems that compete with original content “goes beyond established fair use boundaries,” particularly when involving “illegal access” to materials.
The report stops short of recommending immediate government intervention, instead suggesting the development of licensing markets where AI companies could pay copyright holders for use of their work. This cautious approach contrasts with the position of AI firms like OpenAI, which have pushed for broader fair use protections.
Multiple AI companies, including OpenAI (which Musk co-founded before creating competing firm xAI), currently face lawsuits alleging copyright infringement through their training practices. Musk recently voiced support for eliminating intellectual property laws entirely, retweeting Square founder Jack Dorsey’s call to “delete all IP law.”
The abrupt dismissal of Perlmutter, a respected copyright expert, raises questions about the administration’s approach to intellectual property rights as AI development accelerates. The move follows Trump’s pattern of removing officials perceived as obstacles to his policy goals, though the immediate connection to specific AI industry interests remains unclear.
