Shira Perlmutter, the official responsible for leading the U.S. Copyright Office, has been fired by President Donald Trump. The decision, reported by outlets including CBS News and Politico, was widely interpreted as a politically charged response to a recent policy dispute involving artificial intelligence and copyright protections.
Representative Joe Morelle, the ranking Democrat on the House Administration Committee, strongly condemned the firing, calling it "a brazen, unprecedented power grab with no legal basis." He suggested the move was directly tied to Perlmutter's resistance to approving efforts by Elon Musk and others to train AI systems using vast quantities of copyrighted content without clear legal permission.
Perlmutter had held the role since 2020 after being appointed by Librarian of Congress Carla Hayden — another official who was dismissed by Trump earlier this week. Though Trump has not released a formal statement, he appeared to acknowledge the firing by reposting a Truth Social message linking to the news. The message came from conservative legal advocate Mike Davis, who, despite seemingly supporting Trump's agenda, criticized the decision, warning it could enable AI developers to exploit creators' intellectual property.
The controversy centers around a newly released segment of an ongoing U.S. Copyright Office report, which addresses how AI models use copyrighted material. This third installment of the report carefully outlines the legal boundaries surrounding fair use. It concludes that while limited, non-commercial uses — such as research — may be justified, large-scale commercial use of copyrighted content to create marketable outputs likely falls outside acceptable limits.
Notably, the report does not endorse immediate government action but recommends allowing licensing markets to evolve naturally. It also suggests exploring collective licensing frameworks as a possible solution if market dynamics fail to protect rights holders.
The debate comes at a time when companies like OpenAI face ongoing lawsuits over alleged copyright violations linked to their training data. These companies are actively lobbying for legal frameworks that provide broader fair use protections. Musk, who has distanced himself from OpenAI and now heads a rival venture, xAI, has also echoed calls for dismantling intellectual property laws entirely — a position aligned with comments made by tech entrepreneur Jack Dorsey.
With growing concerns around how AI development impacts copyright holders, Perlmutter's removal adds a new layer of uncertainty. Her exit may influence how aggressively the federal government enforces copyright protections in the AI era — and whether future guidance will lean more toward corporate interests or creators' rights.