Shira Perlmutter, who is suing the federal government over the Trump administration’s move to dismiss her from her position as U.S. register of copyrights, has again asked the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia to grant “an injunction pending appeal and to end Defendants’ lawless attempt to take over the Library of Congress.” Defendants in the case include U.S. deputy attorney general Todd Blanche, who claims to be the acting librarian of Congress, and associate deputy attorney general Paul Perkins, who claims to be the register of copyrights. The two men were appointed to those positions in May by president Donald Trump in a highly disputed move after the dismissal of former librarian of Congress Carla Hayden.
In the August 15 memorandum requesting the injunction, Perlmutter’s team also told the Court that “the dots are not difficult to connect” between a May 9 Office of Copyright report on generative AI training, the May 10 attempt to fire Perlmutter, and the White House’s July 23 release of “America’s AI Action Plan." Publishers fear the AI Action Plan could run roughshod over intellectual property and copyright law, even as Senator Richard Blumenthal (Conn.) and Josh Hawley (Mo.) are proposing a bipartisan “AI Accountability and Personal Data Protection Act” following a U.S. Senate hearing on AI.
Perlmutter’s filing is the latest in an ongoing legal volley. Judge Timothy J. Kelly of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia has twice denied her requests for emergency injunctive relief, first on May 28 and again on July 30, and she has twice appealed.
Both parties submitted responses last week. On August 12, Department of Justice attorneys filed their opposition, arguing that Perlmutter “has failed to show that she will be irreparably harmed absent an injunction” and claiming she and Hayden were “lawfully removed” and their replacements “lawfully designated” under the Federal Vacancies Reform Act. The defendants’ argument treats the LOC, a legislative branch agency that houses the Office of Copyright, as under executive branch control.
Perlmutter’s attorneys point out that the defendants’ account of “Executive agency... would render a dozen other statutory provisions superfluous.” On irreparable harm, the plaintiffs said, “This Court has acknowledged that a plaintiff facing termination from a soon-to-shutter government agency suffers irreparable injury” from the loss of her job and with no plan for restitution. The team did not explain why they referred to the agency as “soon-to-shutter,” though it suggests internal discussions of an agency restructure. According to the Copyright Office, “The Office declines to comment on pending litigation or personnel matters.” The LOC likewise declined to comment on pending litigation.
Making note of the timing of Perlmutter’s firing, the attorneys wrote, “The President obstructed Ms. Perlmutter from performing her role as a key advisor to Congress just after she issued a report on the copyright implications for training generative artificial intelligence models, just before the President launched his AI Action Plan and announced his view that copyright law should be no obstacle.”
On May 9, the day after Hayden was fired and the day before Perlmutter’s eviction was announced, the Office of Copyright released a pre-publication copy of Generative AI Training, Section III of a projected five-part report on copyright and artificial intelligence, research for which has been under way since 2023. Section IV of the report will address fair use doctrine and Section V will cover models for licensing.
Though the White House named Blanche as acting librarian of Congress, rules of succession at the LOC have prevented that transfer of power. Hayden’s replacement, Robert R. Newlen, continues to serve in the role of librarian of Congress on the eve of the LOC’s annual National Book Festival, which is scheduled to take place on September 6.
