Trump admin fires top US copyright official days after terminating Librarian of Congress

President Donald Trump’s administration fired the top copyright official in the U.S. – just days after terminating the Librarian of Congress.

Shira Perlmutter was in charge of the U.S. Copyright Office, which is overseen by the Library of Congress, until she was abruptly fired on Saturday. 

The U.S. Copyright Office told Fox News Digital that Perlmutter received an email from the White House, stating, “your position as the Register of Copyrights and Director at the U.S. Copyright Office is terminated effective immediately.”

Trump fired Librarian of Congress Carla Hayden, who was the first woman and first African American to be Librarian of Congress, on Thursday. The termination was part of the administration’s ongoing purge of government officials who are perceived to be opposed to Trump and his agenda.

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Shira Perlmutter was fired as Register of Copyrights and Director of the U.S. Copyright Office by the Trump administration.  (AP Photo/Mariam Zuhaib, file)

The White House did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s requests for comment on the matter.

Hayden tapped Perlmutter to lead the Copyright Office in October 2020.

Like Perlmutter, Hayden was notified of her firing in an email, according to The Associated Press.

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Librarian of Congress Carla Hayden was fired by the Trump administration. (AP Photo/Amanda Andrade-Rhoades)

“Carla,” the email from the White House’s Presidential Personnel Office reportedly began. “On behalf of President Donald J. Trump, I am writing to inform you that your position as the Librarian of Congress is terminated effective immediately. Thank you for your service.”

Perlmutter’s office recently released a report examining whether artificial intelligence companies can use copyrighted materials to “train” their AI systems.

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The Library of Congress Thomas Jefferson Building is on First Street SE in Washington, D.C. (Robert Alexander/Getty Images)

The report followed a review that started in 2023 with opinions from thousands of individuals, including AI developers, actors and country singers.

The Copyright Office clarified its approach in January, as one based on the “centrality of human creativity” in authoring a work that warrants copyright protections. The Copyright Office takes in about a half a million copyright applications each year, covering millions of creative works.

“Where that creativity is expressed through the use of AI systems, it continues to enjoy protection,” Perlmutter said in January. “Extending protection to material whose expressive elements are determined by a machine… would undermine rather than further the constitutional goals of copyright.”

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Perlmutter, who holds a law degree, was previously a policy director at the Patent and Trademark Office and worked on copyright and other areas of intellectual property. 

She also previously worked at the Copyright Office in the late 1990s.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.