Trump Fires U.S. Copyright Chief After AI Report Raises Copyright Training Concerns

President Donald Trump fired Shira Perlmutter, head of the U.S. Copyright Office, shortly after her office released a report raising concerns about the use of copyrighted material by artificial intelligence companies for training their models without creators' permission. Perlmutter's termination followed the earlier dismissal of Librarian of Congress Carla Hayden, who had appointed Perlmutter in 2020. The report emphasized that while some uses of copyrighted content for AI training might qualify as fair use, extensive commercial exploitation of copyrighted works to create competing content likely exceeds legal boundaries. Democratic Congressman Joe Morelle criticized the firing as an unprecedented power grab, suggesting it was linked to Perlmutter's refusal to approve Elon Musk's efforts to mine copyrighted works for AI training, noting Musk's role as a Trump advisor and owner of the AI company xAI. The decision has sparked fears among government employees and concerns about the potential impact on the copyright system and the AI industry. The Copyright Office's stance highlights ongoing tensions between protecting creators' rights and enabling AI innovation.