US Copyright Office director sues Trump administration over firing
WASHINGTON, May 22 (Reuters) - The U.S. Copyright Office director fired by the Trump administration sued President Donald Trump and other government officials on Thursday, arguing her firing was unconstitutional and should not be allowed to take effect.
Shira Perlmutter said in the lawsuit, opens new tab that her termination by email on May 10 was "blatantly unlawful," and that only the U.S. Congress can remove her from office.
The lawsuit, filed in Washington, D.C., federal district court, is the latest in a series of legal clashes between Trump and federal officials he has sought to fire since his inauguration in January.
The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the complaint. A spokesperson for the Copyright Office and an attorney for Perlmutter declined to comment.
On Thursday, the Supreme Court allowed Trump's firing of two Democratic members of federal labor boards to remain in effect while their legal challenges proceed in a dispute that tests the president's power over independent government agencies.
The Copyright Office, a department of the Library of Congress, confirmed on May 12 that the administration had fired Perlmutter by email on May 10. Perlmutter's firing sparked a backlash from Democratic politicians, who said that Congress had "purposely insulated" the Copyright Office from politics.
The lawsuit said that Perlmutter's firing came a day after the office released a report on the high-stakes intersection of artificial intelligence and copyright law. The office said in the report that technology companies' use of copyrighted works to train AI may not always be protected under U.S. law.
Tech companies including OpenAI and Meta Platforms have told the office that being forced to pay copyright holders for their content could cripple the burgeoning U.S. AI industry.
Perlmutter asked the court to block the Trump appointees from taking the acting positions and declare that she remains the Copyright Office's director.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Daily Mail
36 minutes ago
- Daily Mail
Major hack exposes 86 million AT&T customer records with Social Security numbers... see if you're at risk
A massive breach of personal data from more than 86 million AT&T customers has been leaked on the dark web, with fully decrypted Social Security numbers included. The stolen data was posted to a Russian cybercrime forum on June 3. The files contain full names, birthdates, phone numbers, email addresses, home addresses, and 44 million Social Security Numbers in plain text. The breach appears linked to a large-scale cyberattack that exploited vulnerabilities in Snowflake, a US-based cloud storage platform used by major companies to manage sensitive data. Hackers reportedly accessed AT&T's data by infiltrating accounts that lacked multi-factor authentication, a basic security feature that requires more than a password to log in. To check if your data was exposed in the breach, visit the cybersecurity firm's website at Enter your information to see if any of your accounts were affected. Security researchers are urging customers to monitor their credit reports and take immediate steps to protect themselves. Law enforcement is actively investigating. The files are being widely shared across cybercrime forums, repackaged into three cleanly formatted CSV files that make them easier to access and exploit. AT&T said the hack impacted 86 million former and current customers. It said the Russian hacking group ShinyHunters was behind the breach. Around 73m customers included in the hack had their data originally stolen in 2019 and were notified at the time. However, the group appears to have accessed more records since then. 'After analysis by our internal teams as well as external data consultants, we are confident this is repackaged data previously released on the dark web,' said AT&T in a statement. 'Affected customers were notified at that time. We have notified law enforcement of this latest development,' the spokesperson added. Cybersecurity researchers at Hackread, who first analyzed the files, found matching customer names, email addresses, physical addresses, and phone numbers across both the previous leak and the latest dataset. Security researchers are urging customers to monitor their credit reports and take immediate steps to protect themselves. Law enforcement is actively investigating ShinyHunters, the group linked to both AT&T breaches, is also behind the recent Ticketmaster breach that compromised data on 560 million people. Their growing list of high-profile leaks has prompted US lawmakers to demand answers. Senators Richard Blumenthal (Connecticut) and Josh Hawley (Missouri) have called on both AT&T and Snowflake to explain repeated failures to protect customer data. Experts say the exposure of decrypted SSNs and birthdates is especially damaging, as it enables criminals to open credit lines, impersonate victims, or apply for government services using stolen identities. 'The original breach of sensitive records from AT&T was enough to worry their customers, now it poses a significant risk to their identities,' said Thomas Richards, Infrastructure Security Practice Director at Black Duck. AT&T paid a $370,000 ransom last year, in an attempt to have stolen customer data deleted. The payment, made in Bitcoin, was routed through an intermediary known as 'Reddington.' AT&T reportedly received a video showing the files being deleted, but experts say there's no way to confirm the data wasn't copied or shared before that.
BBC News
36 minutes ago
- BBC News
LA protests: Newsom says Trump 'deranged' to deploy of thousands more troops
President Donald Trump's administration has sent thousands more troops to Los Angeles on a fourth day of chaotic protests against immigration raids, as the unrest spread to other US 700 US Marines have been deployed to the Los Angeles area and the contingent of National Guard troops mobilised to help quell the disorder has been doubled to 4, Governor Gavin Newsom said the deployment was fulfilling "the deranged fantasy of a dictatorial president".The state is suing the president for sending in troops without the governor's permission. It is highly unusual for US military troops to have any domestic law enforcement role. It is the first time since 1965 that a president has sent National Guard troops to a US city without a governor's Marines were previously deployed domestically for major disasters such as Hurricane Katrina and the 11 September 2001 the Trump administration has so far not invoked the Insurrection Act, which would allow the troops to directly participate in civilian 700 troops of 2nd Battalion, 7th Marines, from Twentynine Palms, California, will help protect federal property and personnel, including immigration agents, said the US Monday evening, Los Angeles police officers fired stun grenades and gas canisters to disperse hundreds of demonstrators who gathered outside a federal detention centre in downtown LA where undocumented immigrants have been Guard forces formed a cordon to keep protesters out of the building in the heart of America's second largest city. LAPD said late on Monday afternoon some demonstrators had thrown objects at also sprang up in at least nine other US cities, including New York, Philadelphia, Dallas, Austin and San took to the streets of LA on Friday after it emerged Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers were raiding Latino protests unravelled into looting, self-driving cars being torched, rocks thrown at law enforcement and a major freeway blocked by say they arrested 29 people Saturday night and made 21 more arrests on face charges ranging from attempted murder with a Molotov cocktail and assault on a police officer to LAPD also says more than 600 rubber bullets and other less-than-lethal rounds were used over the the White House on Monday, Trump said his decision to send in the National Guard had stopped the city from "burning down". "You watch same clips I did: cars burning, people rioting, we stopped it," the president said. "I feel we had no choice... We did the right thing."The Republican president said he supported a suggestion that California's governor should be arrested over possible obstruction of his administration's immigration enforcement who has engaged in a war of words in recent days with Trump, responded on X that "this is an unmistakable step toward authoritarianism". He said the troop deployment was "about stroking a dangerous President's ego".Trump meanwhile posted a warning to protesters in LA who confront police and federal wrote on social media: "IF THEY SPIT, WE WILL HIT, and I promise you they will be hit harder than they have ever been hit before. Such disrespect will not be tolerated!"His border tsar, Tom Homan, who has been conducting ICE raids, applauded Trump's show of force in LA."I was there for two nights," Homan said on Fox News on Monday. "It was out of control. The city was burning. Governor Newsom did nothing."The mayor did nothing. So President Trump, God bless him. He sent the National Guard in to save property and save lives, and I salute him for doing well." But at a press conference on Monday evening, LA Mayor Karen Bass said the deployment of troops was a "deliberate attempt" by the Trump administration to "create disorder and chaos in our city".The city leader also said she was aware of at least "five raids by ICE throughout the region" on Monday, including one near her grandson's Monday, Governor Newsom's administration sued the Trump administration for deploying the National lawsuit argued that the president was violating the US Constitution and state has argued that Democratic President Joe Biden's administration allowed far too many immigrants to enter the has pledged to deport record numbers of people who are in the country illegally and to lock down the US-Mexico border, setting a goal of at least 3,000 daily arrests.
The Independent
37 minutes ago
- The Independent
AP PHOTOS: Brazil's Cavalhadas festival celebrates the Holy Spirit
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging. At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story. The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it. Your support makes all the difference.
