Overview

• U.S. District Judge Timothy Kelly denied Perlmutter’s motion for a temporary restraining order, concluding she did not meet the high burden for emergency relief.
• Perlmutter’s lawsuit asserts that only the Librarian of Congress has authority to remove the Register of Copyrights and that her firing undermines Congress’s separation of powers.
• Trump dismissed Perlmutter on May 10, just one day after the U.S. Copyright Office issued a draft report on AI training and fair use.
• The administration defended the removals by arguing the Library of Congress falls under executive branch control and invoked the Federal Vacancies Reform Act.
• With Congress expressing private concern but declining to intervene, Perlmutter may now seek a preliminary injunction and potentially appeal any further rulings.