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Ousted US copyright chief argues Trump did not have power to remove her -- The Register
https://www.theregister.com/2025/07/04/copyright_office_trump_filing/Shira Perlmutter lost her job after her office published report on generative AI and fair use limits
The former head of the US Copyright Office has pushed back against arguments from President Donald Trump's team that her dismissal was lawful.
Shira Perlmutter was ousted after the US Copyright Office released a report challenging the limits of the "fair use" defense used by AI companies to justify training their models on copyrighted material.
In a filing [PDF] to support her attempt to obtain a preliminary injunction this week, Perlmutter argued that her removal was unlawful and caused her immediate and irreparable harm. It said that by firing her, the Trump administration threatened her office's ability to function in the manner that Congress intended.
. . .
Perlmutter was expunged from office a few days after Librarian of Congress Carla Hayden was also shown the door. Hayden was later replaced by deputy attorney general Todd Blanche and Perlmutter by deputy attorney general Paul Perkins.
In the latest filing this week, Perlmutter's legal team said the administration's claim that it had the power to remove her from an office appointed by the Library of Congress employed a "novel constitutional theory" and "sweeping assertions of power."
The Copyright Office is housed in the Library of Congress, and the librarian oversees the Copyright Office head directly, Perlmutter said. Her filing argued that "neither the law nor common sense requires" that the court should "should stand idly by and do nothing while [the Trump administration] wields unprecedented, and unlawful, authority."
Shira Perlmutter was ousted after the US Copyright Office released a report challenging the limits of the "fair use" defense used by AI companies to justify training their models on copyrighted material.
In a filing [PDF] to support her attempt to obtain a preliminary injunction this week, Perlmutter argued that her removal was unlawful and caused her immediate and irreparable harm. It said that by firing her, the Trump administration threatened her office's ability to function in the manner that Congress intended.
. . .
Perlmutter was expunged from office a few days after Librarian of Congress Carla Hayden was also shown the door. Hayden was later replaced by deputy attorney general Todd Blanche and Perlmutter by deputy attorney general Paul Perkins.
In the latest filing this week, Perlmutter's legal team said the administration's claim that it had the power to remove her from an office appointed by the Library of Congress employed a "novel constitutional theory" and "sweeping assertions of power."
The Copyright Office is housed in the Library of Congress, and the librarian oversees the Copyright Office head directly, Perlmutter said. Her filing argued that "neither the law nor common sense requires" that the court should "should stand idly by and do nothing while [the Trump administration] wields unprecedented, and unlawful, authority."