The Trump administration fired Shira Perlmutter, the Register of Copyrights and Director of the U.S. Copyright Office, just days after dismissing Librarian of Congress Carla Hayden. The timing of Perlmutter’s termination, which was communicated by email, is concerning. Her office recently released a detailed report analyzing the legal issues surrounding using copyrighted material to train artificial intelligence systems.
The Copyright Office, which the Library of Congress manages, handles hundreds of thousands of copyright applications each year, provides guidance to Congress on intellectual property matters, and sets related regulations. Perlmutter, a lawyer with deep expertise in intellectual property law, had previously worked at the Patent and Trademark Office and the Copyright Office itself. Hayden had appointed her in October 2020, per Washington Post.
