President Donald Trump fired Shira Perlmutter, the Director of the U.S. Copyright Office, on Saturday, May 10, 2025, according to multiple reports. The dismissal, first noted by CBS News and Politico, followed the firing of Librarian of Congress Carla Hayden on Thursday, May 8, 2025. Perlmutter, appointed by Hayden in October 2020, led the Copyright Office under the Library of Congress’s oversight.
The timing of Perlmutter’s termination has sparked controversy, as it came days after her office released a report on AI and copyright. The report, part three of a series, questioned whether AI companies could rely on “fair use” to train models with copyrighted material, a stance that clashed with some tech industry interests, including those of Trump ally Elon Musk. Representative Joe Morelle, the top Democrat on the House Administration Committee, called the firing a “brazen, unprecedented power grab with no legal basis,” alleging it was tied to Perlmutter’s refusal to endorse Musk’s efforts to use copyrighted works for AI training. Musk, who co-founded xAI and has criticized intellectual property laws, recently supported calls to eliminate them.
Critics, including Democrats, argue the dismissal reflects executive overreach, as the Register of Copyrights is traditionally a legislative branch role. Morelle and others suggest it aligns with a broader purge of officials perceived as disloyal to Trump’s agenda, with posts on X citing “Project 2025” as a framework for replacing officials with loyalists. However, supporters, like attorney Mike Davis in a Truth Social post echoed by Trump, framed the firing as a response to Perlmutter’s policies, with some X users applauding the move.
Perlmutter’s report highlighted limitations on AI firms’ use of copyrighted data, noting that courts often defer to the Copyright Office’s expertise. University of Colorado law professor Blake Reid called it a “straight-ticket loss for AI companies,” speculating a “purge” was imminent. The music industry, per Music Business Worldwide, expressed concern over the firing’s implications for copyright protections, given Trump’s tech ties.
No official reason for Perlmutter’s dismissal was provided, and the White House has not commented directly. The move has fueled debates over copyright law, AI policy, and executive authority, with no replacement announced as of May 12, 2025. For ongoing updates, platforms like grok.com or X offer real-time sentiment and developments.web:0,1,3,5,7,9post:1,5,7
As first reported by , the Trump administration has fired the Register of Copyrights and US Copyright Office Director, Shira Perlmutter. The Register of Copyrights works under the Librarian of Congress — a title held most recently by Carla Hayden, who was fired earlier this week for her DEI efforts, as White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told . Perlmutter’s dismissal comes just after the office released a that raised concerns about certain uses of copyrighted material to train generative AI. It’s the third in published over the last year analyzing copyright law as it pertains to AI.
The Trump administration — particularly — has been pushing for broader use of AI. In April, to develop AI strategies and name Chief AI Officers that will “serve as change agents and AI advocates.”
In a statement released after news of Perlmutter’s firing came to light, Congressman Joe Morelle, the top Democrat on the Committee on House Administration, called the move “a brazen, unprecedented power grab with no legal basis,” saying, “It is surely no coincidence [Donald Trump] 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.”