Latest news with #U.S.CopyrightOffice
Yahoo
2 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Federal judge sides against copyright leader who claimed Trump was wrong to fire her
President Donald Trump scored a legal win on Wednesday when a federal judge declined to grant an emergency request for reinstatement as the fired head of the U.S. Copyright Office. U.S. District Judge Timothy Kelly ruled that Shira Perlmutter failed to meet the legal burden of showing she would suffer irreparable harm if not immediately reinstated, according to the Associated Press. In a lawsuit against the Trump administration, Perlmutter argued that neither the president nor his subordinates had the authority to fire her, as her position falls under the Library of Congress. Trump fired Carla Hayden, the Librarian of Congress and the person who appointed Perlmutter back in 2020. Perlmutter claims in the suit that only the Librarian of Congress can hire or fire the head of the U.S. Copyright Office. Trump Admin Fires Top Us Copyright Official Days After Terminating Librarian Of Congress Trump appointed U.S. Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche as acting Librarian of Congress earlier this month after removing Hayden over allegations that she had pushed DEI initiatives. However, Perlmutter and her attorneys claim that the president lacks the authority to appoint a Librarian of Congress, as the position is under the legislative branch, not the executive. Supreme Court Upholds Trump's Removal Of Biden Appointees From Federal Boards Read On The Fox News App Lawyers representing Blanche made the opposite argument in a court filing. "The President had the power to remove the Librarian and designate an acting replacement. The Library of Congress is not an autonomous organization free from political supervision," the filing read. "It is part of the Executive Branch and is subject to presidential control…" Trump is facing resistance from within his own party over the move, according to Politico. The outlet reported that House Speaker Mike Johnson and Senate Majority Leader John Thune have privately questioned the president's actions toward the Library of Congress, citing three individuals granted anonymity. Johnson and Thune have reportedly expressed skepticism over Trump's authority to name Library officials. Rep. Joe Morelle (D-N.Y.) has been a vocal opponent, rejecting Perlmutter's firing in a statement. "Donald Trump's termination of Register of Copyrights, Shira Perlmutter, is a brazen, unprecedented power grab with no legal basis. It is surely no coincidence he acted less than a day after she refused to rubber-stamp Elon Musk's efforts to mine troves of copyrighted works to train AI models," Morelle said in a statement. While Perlmutter's emergency request was denied, her lawsuit is still ongoing. According to Politico, Kelly indicated that he would hear arguments in the coming article source: Federal judge sides against copyright leader who claimed Trump was wrong to fire her
Fox News
2 days ago
- Business
- Fox News
Federal judge sides against copyright leader who claimed Trump was wrong to fire her
President Donald Trump scored a legal win on Wednesday when a federal judge declined to grant an emergency request for reinstatement as the fired head of the U.S. Copyright Office. U.S. District Judge Timothy Kelly ruled that Shira Perlmutter failed to meet the legal burden of showing she would suffer irreparable harm if not immediately reinstated, according to the Associated Press. In a lawsuit against the Trump administration, Perlmutter argued that neither the president nor his subordinates had the authority to fire her, as her position falls under the Library of Congress. Trump fired Carla Hayden, the Librarian of Congress and the person who appointed Perlmutter back in 2020. Perlmutter claims in the suit that only the Librarian of Congress can hire or fire the head of the U.S. Copyright Office. Trump appointed U.S. Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche as acting Librarian of Congress earlier this month after removing Hayden over allegations that she had pushed DEI initiatives. However, Perlmutter and her attorneys claim that the president lacks the authority to appoint a Librarian of Congress, as the position is under the legislative branch, not the executive. Lawyers representing Blanche made the opposite argument in a court filing. "The President had the power to remove the Librarian and designate an acting replacement. The Library of Congress is not an autonomous organization free from political supervision," the filing read. "It is part of the Executive Branch and is subject to presidential control…" Trump is facing resistance from within his own party over the move, according to Politico. The outlet reported that House Speaker Mike Johnson and Senate Majority Leader John Thune have privately questioned the president's actions toward the Library of Congress, citing three individuals granted anonymity. Johnson and Thune have reportedly expressed skepticism over Trump's authority to name Library officials. Rep. Joe Morelle (D-N.Y.) has been a vocal opponent, rejecting Perlmutter's firing in a statement. "Donald Trump's termination of Register of Copyrights, Shira Perlmutter, is a brazen, unprecedented power grab with no legal basis. It is surely no coincidence he acted less than a day after she refused to rubber-stamp Elon Musk's efforts to mine troves of copyrighted works to train AI models," Morelle said in a statement. While Perlmutter's emergency request was denied, her lawsuit is still ongoing. According to Politico, Kelly indicated that he would hear arguments in the coming weeks.
Forbes
2 days ago
- Business
- Forbes
U.S. Copyright Office Shocks Big Tech With AI Fair Use Rebuke
In latest pre-publication report, U.S. Copyright Office Warns AI Training May Dilute Creative ... More Markets On May 9, the U.S. Copyright Office released its long-awaited report on generative AI training and copyright infringement – just one day after President Trump abruptly fired Librarian of Congress Carla Hayden. Within 48 hours, Register of Copyrights Shira Perlmutter was also reportedly out, after the agency rushed to publish a 'pre-publication version' of its guidance – suggesting urgency, if not outright alarm, within the Office. This timing was no coincidence. 'We practitioners were anticipating this report and knew it was being finalized, but its release was a surprise,' said Yelena Ambartsumian, an AI Governance and IP lawyer, and founder of AMBART LAW pllc. 'The fact that it dropped as a pre-publication version, the day after the Librarian was fired, signals to me that the Copyright Office expected its own leadership to be next.' At the center of the report is a sharply contested issue: whether using copyrighted works to train AI models qualifies as 'fair use.' And the Office's position is a bold departure from the narrative that major AI companies like OpenAI and Google have relied on in court. One of the most consequential findings in the report is the Copyright Office's rejection of the broadest fair use defense advanced by AI companies – that training models on copyrighted content is inherently transformative because the resulting models don't 'express' the same ideas. 'The Copyright Office outright rejected the most common argument that big tech companies make,' said Ambartsumian. 'But paradoxically, it suggested that the larger and more diverse a foundation model's training set, the more likely this training process would be transformative and the less likely that the outputs would infringe on the derivative rights of the works on which they were trained. That seems to invite more copying, not less." This nuance is critical. The Office stopped short of declaring that all AI training is infringement. Instead, it emphasized that each case must be evaluated on its specific facts – a reminder that fair use remains a flexible doctrine, not a blanket permission slip. Perhaps the most provocative portion of the report involves the so-called 'fourth factor' of the fair use test – the effect on the '...potential market for or value of…' the copyrighted work. Here, the Copyright Office ventured into uncharted territory. 'The report expounded a market dilution theory, which it admits is 'unchartered territory' but claims is supported by statute,' Ambartsumian noted. 'No court has applied this yet, but it's a powerful new argument for rights holders – and it comes straight from the federal agency responsible for interpreting copyright.' In essence, the Office warns that if AI models are trained on, say, romance novels, and then generate thousands of similar books, the flood of AI content could dilute the market for human-authored works. That theory mirrors real-world fears from creators who worry they'll be displaced not just by plagiarism but by sheer volume of potential category bloat from generative AI exploiters. The report also puts to rest a long-simmering debate around opt-out systems for copyright holders, where creators must actively signal if they don't want their work used for training. The Copyright Office essentially shut that door. 'This is a damning blow to the tech giants,' Ambartsumian said. 'The Office all but rejected the opt-out proposal and instead focused on exploring voluntary collective licensing mechanisms. That's a far more creator-centric approach.' Collective licensing – like the way music royalties are handled – could allow publishers, authors and other rights holders to be compensated for training use of their works. But the Office also acknowledged the difficulty of implementing such a scheme at scale. This legal backdrop comes amid broader political turbulence. OpenAI's own March 13 proposal to the White House urged the federal government to weigh in on copyright litigation, and floated the idea of federal preemption to override state-level AI laws. The Congress is now considering a bill that would bar states from regulating AI for the next 10 years. Ambartsumian sees these moves as connected. 'OpenAI asked the government to weigh in on copyright cases,' she said. 'But then the Executive branch turned around and weighed in on the Copyright Office itself.' Even if courts don't formally cite the pre-publication report, its influence is likely to linger. 'We can't unsee it. Judges and clerks will read it. Litigants will cite it. And the Copyright Office, despite the leadership shake-up, has now staked out a policy position,' Ambartsumian said. What happens next will depend on whether that report remains available, whether the courts embrace its logic, and whether Congress steps in to legislate a framework for AI and copyright in the coming months. For now, creators, developers, and policymakers alike are left with a central—and urgent—question: Can the law catch up with the pace of AI?
Yahoo
3 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Wednesday's Mini-Report, 5.28.25
Today's edition of quick hits. * In the Middle East: 'Hamas' Gaza chief Mohammed Sinwar, the younger brother of the group's deceased leader Yahya Sinwar, has been killed, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told lawmakers Wednesday.' * Kseniia Petrova's case: 'A federal judge on Wednesday granted bail to Harvard scientist Kseniia Petrova, who has spent more than three months in custody after failing to declare frog embryos upon arriving in the United States. U.S. District Judge Christina Reiss in Vermont said Petrova's continued detention by immigration authorities was unjustified and raised serious legal concerns about the government's actions.' * A disappointing ruling from a Trump-appointed judge: 'A federal judge refused Wednesday to temporarily block the Trump administration from removing and replacing the director of the U.S. Copyright Office. U.S. District Judge Timothy Kelly ruled from the bench that the office director, Shira Perlmutter, hasn't met her legal burden to show how removing her from the position would cause her to suffer irreparable harm.' * Given that a majority of Missouri voters last fall to approve a state constitutional amendment that guarantees the 'fundamental right to reproductive freedom,' developments like these probably shouldn't happen: 'Planned Parenthood officials say they have halted abortions in Missouri after the state Supreme Court ruled that a judge must reevaluate orders that had allowed the procedure to resume earlier this year.' * All things considered, Musk isn't the only one 'disappointed' with Republicans' regressive bill: 'Elon Musk broke with President Donald Trump on the House-passed domestic policy bill, saying in an interview that he was 'disappointed' that it would increase the federal deficit.' * The White House needs to dial down the inflammatory rhetoric: 'Threats against federal judges have risen drastically since President Trump took office, according to internal data compiled by the U.S. Marshals Service. In the five-month period leading up to March 1 of this year, 80 individual judges had received threats, the data shows. Then, over the next six weeks, an additional 162 judges received threats, a dramatic increase. That spike in threats coincided with a flood of harsh rhetoric — often from Mr. Trump himself — criticizing judges who have ruled against the administration and, in some cases, calling on Congress to impeach them.' * Crypto scores another win: 'The Labor Department on Wednesday yanked Biden-era guidance that strongly discouraged employers against offering cryptocurrency in workers' 401(k) plan options.' See you tomorrow. This article was originally published on
Yahoo
3 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Federal Judge Refuses to Block Trump Ouster of US Copyright Office Head
A federal judge refused Wednesday to temporarily block the Trump administration from firing Shira Perlmutter, former director of the U.S. Copyright Office. U.S. District Judge Timothy Kelly ruled that Perlmutter had not met her legal burden to show how removing her from the position would cause her to suffer irreparable harm, according to the Associated Press. Perlmutter has sued Trump, arguing her termination by email on May 10 was unconstitutional and that only the U.S. Congress can remove her from office. The former director, who was named to the position in 2020, still has the option of seeking a preliminary injunction. Kelly set a deadline for Thursday afternoon for her attorneys and government lawyers to present a schedule to argue and decide the matter. Perlmutter's lawyers claimed that President Donald Trump does not have the authority to unilaterally remove the Register of Copyrights or appoint an acting Librarian of Congress. The WGA previously issued a statement declaring their support for the ousted official and demanding her reinstatement, saying that Trump's firing was 'unlawful.' Trump is also being sued by NPR after he moved to defund it and PBS. The post Federal Judge Refuses to Block Trump Ouster of US Copyright Office Head appeared first on TheWrap.
