Overview

• President Trump terminated Shira Perlmutter, head of the U.S. Copyright Office, two days after firing Librarian of Congress Carla Hayden, who had appointed Perlmutter in 2020.
• Perlmutter’s firing followed the release of a U.S. Copyright Office report that questioned whether AI training on copyrighted works falls under fair use, a key issue for tech companies like Elon Musk's xAI.
• The report concluded that large-scale commercial use of copyrighted materials for AI training likely exceeds fair use boundaries, sparking industry debate.
• Representative Joe Morelle called the firings an unprecedented power grab, suggesting they were linked to Perlmutter's refusal to support Musk's AI initiatives.
• The White House has not provided an explanation for the dismissals, leaving the leadership of both the Library of Congress and the Copyright Office vacant.