Trump Fires Copyright Office Director Amid AI Training Controversy
Washington, D.C., May 12, 2025 — President Donald Trump has dismissed Shira Perlmutter, the Register of Copyrights and Director of the U.S. Copyright Office, days after her office released a report questioning the use of copyrighted materials in training artificial intelligence (AI) models. The move, confirmed by sources to CBS News and Politico, has sparked accusations of executive overreach and ignited debate over the intersection of copyright law and AI development.
Perlmutter, who has led the Copyright Office since October 2020, was appointed by Librarian of Congress Carla Hayden, whom Trump also fired last Thursday in a brief email without explanation. The White House notified Perlmutter of her termination via email on Saturday, stating her position was “terminated effective immediately,” according to a statement from the Copyright Office.
The timing of Perlmutter’s dismissal has drawn scrutiny, particularly from Democrats. Representative Joe Morelle, the top Democrat on the House Administration Committee, called the firing “a brazen, unprecedented power grab with no legal basis,” suggesting it was “no coincidence” that it occurred less than a day after the Copyright Office released part three of its AI policy report. The report, part of a multi-year study, raised concerns about whether AI companies’ mass use of copyrighted data for training could be justified under “fair use” provisions. It noted, “It is an open question… how much data an AI developer needs, and the marginal effect of more data on a model’s capabilities.”
Morelle linked the firing to Perlmutter’s refusal to “rubber-stamp” efforts by tech billionaire Elon Musk, a Trump ally, to access copyrighted content for AI training. Musk, who owns xAI and recently endorsed eliminating intellectual property laws on his platform X, is heavily invested in AI development. The report’s stance, which leaned toward protecting copyright holders, appeared to conflict with the interests of Musk and other AI industry leaders advocating for broader fair use exemptions.
The Copyright Office’s report suggested that while research and analysis might fall under fair use, “making commercial use of vast troves of copyrighted works to produce expressive content that competes with them in existing markets, especially where this is accomplished through illegal access, goes beyond established fair use boundaries.” It also encouraged the development of licensing markets where AI companies pay copyright holders, proposing “extended collective licensing” to address potential market failures.
Trump’s actions have raised concerns about the independence of the Copyright Office, which operates under the Library of Congress and is traditionally overseen by the legislative branch. Federal law stipulates that the Register of Copyrights is appointed and supervised by the Librarian of Congress, a position requiring presidential nomination and Senate confirmation. Morelle warned that the firing “tramples on Congress’s Article One authority and throws a trillion-dollar industry into chaos.”
The White House has not commented on Perlmutter’s dismissal, though Trump alluded to the news on Truth Social by “ReTruthing” a post from attorney Mike Davis linking to the CBS News article. Confusingly, Davis appeared to criticize the firing, writing, “Now tech bros are going to attempt to steal creators’ copyrights for AI profits.”
Perlmutter’s ouster follows Trump’s announcement of a $500 billion private-sector joint venture with OpenAI, Softbank, and Oracle to bolster national AI infrastructure, signaling his administration’s strong support for AI advancement. However, the firings of both Perlmutter and Hayden have prompted warnings of a dangerous precedent for U.S. copyright policy and legislative autonomy.
On X, reactions were mixed. Some users praised Trump’s decisiveness, with one claiming the Copyright Office was attempting to impose “EU-style” restrictions that could hinder U.S. AI leadership. Others condemned the firing as potentially illegal, noting the report’s conclusion that generative AI trained on copyrighted works may not qualify as fair use.
As AI companies like OpenAI face ongoing lawsuits over copyright infringement, the Copyright Office’s report and Perlmutter’s subsequent dismissal highlight the growing tension between technological innovation and intellectual property rights. With the administration’s AI Action Plan under development, the creative industries, including Hollywood, have urged Trump to protect copyright protections, warning that weakening them could jeopardize millions of jobs and America’s cultural influence.
The future of U.S. copyright policy remains uncertain as the Trump administration navigates these complex issues, with implications for both the tech and creative sectors.
President Donald Trump has fired Shira Perlmutter, who leads the U.S. Copyright Office.
The firing was reported by CBS News and Politico, and seemingly confirmed by a statement from Representative Joe Morelle, the top Democrat on the Committee for House Administration.
“Donald Trump’s termination of Register of Copyrights, Shira Perlmutter, is a brazen, unprecedented power grab with no legal basis,” Morelle said. “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.”
Perlmutter took over the Copyright Office in 2020, during the first Trump administration. She was appointed by Librarian of Congress Carla Hayden, who Trump also fired this week.
Trump alluded to the news on his social network Truth Social, when he “ReTruthed” a post from attorney Mike Davis linking to the CBS News article. (Confusingly, Davis seemed to criticize the firing, writing, “Now tech bros are going to attempt to steal creators’ copyrights for AI profits.”)
As for how this ties into Musk (a Trump ally) and AI, Morelle linked to a pre-publication version of a U.S. Copyright Office report released this week that focuses on copyright and artificial intelligence. (In fact, it’s actually part three of a longer report.)
In it, the Copyright Office says that while it’s “not possible to prejudge” the outcome of individual cases, there are limitations on how much AI companies can count on “fair use” as a defense when they train their models on copyrighted content. For example, the report says research and analysis would probably be allowed.
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“But making commercial use of vast troves of copyrighted works to produce expressive content that competes with them in existing markets, especially where this is accomplished through illegal access, goes beyond established fair use boundaries,” it continues.
The Copyright Office goes on to suggest that government intervention “would be premature at this time,” but it expresses hope that “licensing markets” where AI companies pay copyright holders for access to their content “should continue to develop,” adding that “alternative approaches such as extended collective licensing should be considered to address any market failure.”
AI companies including OpenAI currently face a number of lawsuits accusing them of copyright infringement, and OpenAI has also called for the U.S. government to codify a copyright strategy that gives AI companies leeway through fair use.
Musk, meanwhile, is both a co-founder of OpenAI and of a competing startup, xAI (which is merging with the former Twitter). He recently expressed support for Square founder Jack Dorsey’s call to “delete all IP law.”