Fired Copyright Office head sues Trump administration over removal

Shira Perlmutter, the fired head of the U.S. Copyright Office, has sued the Trump administration, claiming that her removal was “unlawful and ineffective.”

The U.S Copyright Office registers copyright claims and helps inform Congress about copyright policies. In 2020, Carla Hayden, then Librarian of Congress, appointed Perlmutter to head the office. Earlier this month, President Trump fired Hayden, whose 10-year term was about to expire next year, via email. A day later, Perlmutter also received an email stating that her position was terminated.

Since then, President Trump appointed Todd Blanche, the deputy attorney general of the United States, as Hayden’s temporary replacement.

In a lawsuit filed Thursday, Perlmutter argued that only the Librarian of Congress has the power to appoint and remove the Register of Copyrights, and that the president has “no authority” to name a temporary replacement Librarian of Congress.

“In short, the President’s attempt to name Mr. Blanche as acting Librarian of Congress was

unlawful and ineffective, and therefore Mr. Blanche cannot remove or replace Ms. Perlmutter,” the lawsuit states.

NPR has reached out to the Justice Department and the White House for comment.

The shakeup at the Library of Congress is happening just as the Copyright Office published the third part of its report on Copyright and AI, which examines the use of copyrighted works in training generative AI. The report concluded that some usage of copyrighted material amounts to fair use, while others go “beyond established fair use boundaries.”

Perlmutter is seeking from the court a preliminary and permanent injunction stopping Blanche from exercising his powers as acting Librarian of Congress, and stating that Perlmutter may not be removed as the head of the Copyright Office.