--- title: "There’s Apparently Some Serious Drama Brewing Between Elon Musk’s DOGE and Trump’s MAGA" description: "The firing of America's top copyright official was seen as a boon for Big Tech — but the new guys are not so sensitive to industry's needs. " date: "2025-05-15" modified: "2025-05-15" authors: - name: "Noor Al-Sibai" job_title: "Senior Staff Writer" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/nooralsibai" url: "https://futurism.com/elon-musk-doge-trump-maga-copyright" categories: - "Artificial Intelligence" - "Elon Musk" - "Future Society" - "The Industrialists" tags: - "ai training" - "copyright" - "doge" - "elon musk" --- # There’s Apparently Some Serious Drama Brewing Between Elon Musk’s DOGE and Trump’s MAGA ![The firing of America's top copyright official was seen as a boon for Big Tech — but the new guys are not so sensitive to industry's needs. ]() *\Image: Win McNamee via Getty / Futurism\* Elon Musk and Donald Trump's firing of the United States' top copyright official was seen as a boon for the Big Tech agenda — but as it turns out, the new guys are not so sensitive to the industry's needs. As [*The Verge* reports](), most everyone presumed Musk's Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) and its [anti-regulation stance]() were to blame for the [firing]() of Register of Copyrights Shira Perlmutter. The firing came in the wake of her office [releasing a preliminary report]() suggesting that training AI on copyrighted data was not legally considered fair use. But as it turns out, the men replacing her — Paul Perkins, a Justice Department veteran from Trump's first administration, and Brian Nieves, who works for the Deputy Attorney General — are not DOGE, but MAGA stalwarts who seem bent on tech regulation. Perkins, Nieves, and Todd Blanche, who was [picked to lead the Library of Congress]() after the former librarian was fired alongside Perlmutter, are "there to stick it to tech," according to one official who spoke to *The Verge*. Along with now being the deputy attorney general, Blanche also served as Trump's defense attorney during his 2024 "[hush money]()" criminal trial. As deputy AG, the official is also arguing on the administration's behalf as it seeks to [force Google to lay aside]() 20 percent of its profits to fix issues flagged by the Justice Department. While the DOGE faction of the president's coalition is all-in on AI and [seeks its deregulation](), Republican stalwarts were actually upset with Trump and Musk for firing Perlmutter because, as some conservatives believe, AI *should* be reined in when it comes to copyrighted materials. "We don’t have to steal content to compete with China. We don’t have slave labor to compete with China. It’s a bullshit argument," exclaimed Trump antitrust adviser Mike Davis in an interview about the firings with *The Verge*. "It’s not fair use under the copyright laws to take everyone’s content and have the big tech platforms monetize it. That’s the opposite of fair use. That’s a copyright infringement." With the backdrop of Musk's alleged exit from government, one thing seems to be clear: that the conservative business interests that bolstered Trump to power in 2016 and 2024 may finally be winning out over the technolibertarianism that brought Musk along for the ride. **More on Muskian power plays:** [*Government Furiously Trying to Undo Elon Musk's Damage*]() ## Author At Futurism, I've often been drawn to unpacking the narratives that underlie technological, scientific and medical progress, with a special interest in areas of conflict and ambiguity that end up setting agendas and steering the fates of both elites and the hoi polloi. I'm a committed generalist, but I often find myself returning to work involving NASA and the private space sector, the effects of AI on media and society, and the mechanics of the pharmaceutical industry, with a specific focus on the spread of GLP-1 drugs like Ozempic and Wegovy. Prior to Futurism, I worked for publications ranging from Media Matters and Truthdig to Raw Story and Bustle. I'm also the author of "Myspace Scene Queens," a 2024 title in Instar Books' acclaimed "Remember the Internet" series. My work at Futurism has been cited by outlets including the New Yorker, Slate, Nieman Lab, the Verge, the MIT Technology Review, the Sunday Times, and the Daily Beast. I grew up in North Carolina, attended the University of North Carolina at Asheville, and now live in Brooklyn, New York. In my free time, I'm an avid reader and music fan; you can probably find me at a local poetry reading, concert, underground rave, or DJ set. I'm the proud parent of an ineffable orange cat named Mee-Mow. ### Author social links [Bluesky]()