President Donald Trump on Saturday fired the nation's top copyright official, a position traditionally overseen by the legislative branch. According to an internal Library of Congress document obtained by Politico, the White House contacted U.S. Copyright Officer Sheila Perlmutter on Saturday afternoon to inform her that she had been "fired" as U.S. Copyright Officer.
Federal law states that the U.S. Copyright Officer is appointed and overseen by the Librarian of Congress, and the position requires a presidential nomination and Senate confirmation. Former Librarian of Congress Carla Hayden was fired by the White House on Thursday, but the White House did not disclose the reason for her firing in a two-sentence email.
Hayden was confirmed by the Senate in 2016 for a 10-year term. She appointed Perlmutter, who took office in October 2020.
"It's no coincidence that President Trump's action comes just one day after Perlmutter disapproved of Elon Musk's efforts to mine vast troves of copyrighted material for use in training AI models," said Rep. Joe Morrell, a Democrat on the House Administration Committee that oversees the Library of Congress and the U.S. Copyright Office.
Perlmutter and his office released a lengthy report on artificial intelligence that raised several questions and concerns about the use of copyrighted material by AI technologies in which Musk is deeply involved.
"This action again oversteps Congress' Article I power and disrupts a trillion-dollar industry," Morrell said in a statement. "When will our Republican colleagues accept reality?"
The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment.