In a recent shake-up, the Trump administration removed Shira Perlmutter from her role as the nation’s chief copyright official, shortly after the unexpected dismissal of the head of the Library of Congress, under whose jurisdiction the U.S. Copyright Office falls.
The agency confirmed this decision through a statement released on Sunday, explaining that an email from the White House was sent to Perlmutter the previous day, indicating the immediate termination of her role as the Register of Copyrights and Director at the U.S. Copyright Office.
This termination followed the Thursday dismissal of Carla Hayden, the first woman and first African American to serve as the Librarian of Congress. Both actions are perceived as part of the administration’s broader strategy to remove officials who may not align with the President’s agenda.
Shira Perlmutter was appointed to lead the Copyright Office by Hayden in October 2020. Under Perlmutter’s leadership, the office released a notable report addressing the issue of whether artificial intelligence companies can utilize copyrighted materials to train their AI technologies and compete in the marketplace alongside the human-created content they learn from.
This report constituted the third installment of an extensive study on artificial intelligence, initiated by Perlmutter in 2023. It incorporated feedback from thousands of individuals, including AI developers, actors, and musicians, providing a comprehensive review of the topic. In January, the office reiterated its stance emphasizing the importance of “human creativity” as essential to the creation of works eligible for copyright protection. Annually, the office processes approximately 500,000 copyright applications, covering millions of creative pieces.
Perlmutter articulated in January that creativity expressed via AI continues to be protected, asserting that extending protections to works primarily generated by machines would counteract the constitutional aims of copyright law.
The White House has not returned requests for comment on this unexpected dismissal, leading to swift criticism from Democrats. Representative Joe Morelle from New York, the senior Democrat on the House Administration Committee, condemned Perlmutter’s firing as an extraordinary and baseless exertion of power by President Trump.
Before her tenure as the Register of Copyrights, Perlmutter, a holder of a law degree, served as a policy director at the Patent and Trademark Office, focusing on intellectual property, and she also has prior experience at the Copyright Office from the late 1990s.
Despite attempts to reach her, Perlmutter has not responded to press inquiries following her removal.