Trump Ousts Copyright Office Director Amid Controversies Over AI Training, Report Says

President Donald Trump has terminated Shira Perlmutter from her position as head of the U.S. Copyright Office.

CBS News and Politico have confirmed her removal, with Representative Joe Morelle, the top Democrat on the Committee for House Administration, issuing a statement regarding the matter.

“Donald Trump’s removal of Register of Copyrights, Shira Perlmutter, represents a clear and unprecedented power grab without any legal basis,” Morelle commented. “The timing of this decision coincides with her refusal to support Elon Musk’s efforts to leverage extensive copyrighted materials for AI model development.”

Perlmutter took charge of the Copyright Office in 2020 during Trump’s initial term, having been appointed by Librarian of Congress Carla Hayden, who was also dismissed by Trump this week.

Trump addressed the matter on his social media platform, Truth Social, by “ReTruthing” a post from attorney Mike Davis that cited the CBS News article. Davis seemed to criticize the dismissal, stating, “Now tech entrepreneurs will exploit creators’ copyrights for AI profits.”

Regarding Musk, who has ties to Trump, and AI, Morelle shared an early version of a recent U.S. Copyright Office report that investigates copyright issues related to artificial intelligence. (This is part three of a comprehensive report.)

The report indicates that while it is “not possible to preemptively assess” specific situations, there are limits on how much AI companies can invoke “fair use” to justify the use of copyrighted works for training their models. For example, it suggests that research and analysis may generally be permissible.

“However, utilizing significant copyrighted materials for commercial purposes to produce expressive content that competes in existing markets—especially through unauthorized access—surpasses recognized fair use boundaries,” the report continues.

The Copyright Office also states that any government action “would be premature at this time,” expressing hope that “licensing markets” will emerge to allow AI companies to fairly compensate copyright holders for content access, and recommends that “alternative solutions like extended collective licensing should be considered to address market shortcomings.”

Currently, AI companies like OpenAI are involved in multiple lawsuits alleging copyright infringements, and OpenAI has urged the U.S. government to create a copyright framework that offers AI firms more flexibility regarding fair use.

Meanwhile, Musk, who co-founded OpenAI and is also associated with rival startup xAI (which is merging with the previous Twitter), has recently endorsed Square founder Jack Dorsey’s proposal to “abolish all IP law.”