IP Law Daily, COPYRIGHT NEWS: Perlmutter sues over firing as Register of Copyrights; calls termination ‘blatantly unlawful’, (May 27, 2025)

By Thomas Long, J.D.

Complaint asserts that “President Trump attempted to bulldoze over Congress’s role in selecting leadership within the Library of Congress”; requests injunction blocking “unconstitutional” actions.

Shira Perlmutter—who was Register of Copyrights and Director of the U.S. Copyright Office at least until May 10—has filed a lawsuit claiming that she remains the lawful official in charge of the nation’s copyright system. The complaint accuses President Trump and others of violating the Appointments Clause and other constitutional provisions, as well as federal statute, by purporting to remove her from her position at the legislative branch agency, which is part of the Library of Congress. Her lawsuit joins several cases brought by terminated officials asserting that they were removed contrary to law (Perlmutter v. Blanche, No. 1:25-cv-01659 (D.D.C. filed May 22, 2025)).

The events giving rise to the lawsuit commenced when Librarian of Congress Carla Hayden was notified of her termination via email on May 8. Late in the day on Friday, May 9, the Copyright Office released a “pre-publication version” of the third part of its three-part report on copyright implications of artificial intelligence technology. This part of the report focused on the application of fair use principles to training of generative AI models. There were varying reactions among analysts regarding the report’s impact on AI companies, but some proponents of the emerging tech were disappointed that the Office did not take a clear and comprehensive position in favor of fair use.

The next day, reports began to emerge that Register of Copyrights and Director of the Copyright Office Shira Perlmutter had been sacked, with many speculating that there was a causal connection between the surprise release of the AI fair use report and her firing. According to Perlmutter’s complaint, on May 10, Trent Morse, Deputy Assistant to the President and Deputy Director of the White House Presidential Personnel, sent an email to Perlmutter, which stated that, on behalf of the President, her “position as the Register of Copyrights and Director at the U.S. Copyright Office is terminated effective immediately.” Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche was reportedly tapped to serve as the acting head of the Library of Congress, with Associate Deputy Attorney General Paul Perkins chosen to serve as interim Register. As of this writing Shira Perlmutter is still indicated as Register of Copyrights and Director, U.S. Copyright Office on the Office’s site.

Perlmutter’s complaint characterizes this series of terminations and replacements as contrary to law and immediately invalid. She is asking the court to issue an injunction, including an emergency temporary restraining order, preventing her firing and barring the White House or executive branch officials from interfering with her service as Register. Along with the Executive Office of the President and President Trump, White House Presidential Personnel Office Director Sergio Gor, and Deputy Assistant to the President Trent Morse, the complaint names as defendants Todd Blanche “in his capacity as the person claiming to be acting Librarian of Congress” and Paul Perkins “in his capacity as the person claiming to be the Register of Copyrights.”

The basis of the complaint is the Library of Congress’s unique status as part of the legislative branch, which calls into question the President’s authority to remove and replace its officials. “President Trump attempted to bulldoze over Congress’s role in selecting leadership within the Library of Congress.” According to the complaint, the attempt to remove Perlmutter as Register was “blatantly unlawful” and ineffective because Congress vested the Librarian of Congress—not the President—with the power to appoint and remove the Register, in 17 U.S.C. § 701. The complaint also asserts that Perlmutter could not have been lawfully removed by Blanche because the President has no authority to name a temporary replacement Librarian of Congress. Perlmutter also contends that, as a high-ranking Department of Justice official, Blanche’s “presence offends the constitutional separation of powers.”

The complaint asserts that the President’s power under the Federal Vacancies Reform Act to temporarily fill vacant, high-level positions in an “Executive agency,” 5 U.S.C. § 3345(a), does not apply to vacancies in the Library of Congress, a legislative branch agency. According to Perlmutter, the statutory scheme for succession makes interim Principal Deputy Librarian Robert R. Newlen the acting Librarian of Congress. Specifically, the complaint asserts, “Congress chose to authorize the Librarian of Congress to ‘make rules and regulations for the government of the Library,’ 2 U.S.C. § 136, and, pursuant to those rules, interim Principal Deputy Librarian Robert R. Newlen now exercises the powers of the acting Librarian of Congress.”

The complaint sets forth counts for violations of constitutional and statutory authority, including separation of powers and the Appointments Clause. “The purported termination of Plaintiff from her position as Register of Copyrights and Director of the Copyright Office by President Trump, Mr. Blanche, or any other Defendant is unlawful,” it alleges. “No Defendant is lawfully the Librarian of Congress, and only the Librarian of Congress has the authority to remove Plaintiff from her position.”

Perlmutter requests injunctive relief ordering Blanche not to exercise the powers of acting Librarian of Congress; ordering all the defendants to refrain from purporting to appoint any other individual to be acting Librarian of Congress; ordering Perkins not to exercise the powers of acting Register of Copyrights; and declaring any actions by Blanche or any other improperly appointed person as an officer of the Library of Congress to be void and without effect. She also asks for an injunction ordering that she may not be removed from her office or obstructed from her ability to carry out her duties as Register of Copyrights, absent a decision by a lawfully appointed Librarian of Congress to remove her from that office. Additionally, the complaint seeks declarations that the Federal Vacancies Reform Act does not authorize the appointment of a temporary acting Librarian of Congress and that Perlmutter remains the Register of Copyrights and Director of the U.S. Copyright Office, that Blanche has not lawfully been appointed as the acting Librarian of Congress, and that Newlen remains the acting Librarian of Congress.

The case is No. 1:25-cv-01659.

Judge: Kelly, T.

Attorneys: Brian D. Netter (Democracy Forward Foundation) for Shira Perlmutter. Christopher R. Hall, U.S. Department of Justice, for Todd Blanche.

MainStory: TopStory AINews Copyright DOGE FedTracker IP GCNNews