--- title: "The US Copyright Chief Was Fired After Raising Red Flags About AI Abuse" description: "The US Copyright Office released a report that could be bad for powerful AI companies. The next day, the agency's head was fired." date: "2025-05-13" modified: "2025-05-13" authors: - name: "Maggie Harrison Dupré" job_title: "Senior Staff Writer" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/mharrison" url: "https://futurism.com/head-us-copyright-fired-ai" categories: - "Artificial Intelligence" tags: - "ai" - "artificial intelligence" - "copyright" - "politics" - "trump administration" --- # The US Copyright Chief Was Fired After Raising Red Flags About AI Abuse ![The US Copyright Office released a report that could be bad for powerful AI companies. The next day, the agency's head was fired.]() *\Image: Getty / Futurism\* On Friday, the US Copyright Office released a [draft of a report]() finding that AI companies broke the law while training AI. The next day, the agency's head, Shira Perlmutter, [was fired]() — and the alarm bells are blaring. The report's findings were pretty straightforward. Basically, the report explained that using large language models (LLMs) trained on copyrighted data for tasks like "research and analysis" is probably fine, as "the outputs are unlikely to substitute for expressive works used in training." But that changes when copyrighted materials (like books, for example) are used for commercial applications — particularly when those applications *compete* in the same market as the original works funneled into models for training. Other examples: Using an AI that gets trained on copyrighted journalism, in order to create a news generation tool, or using copyrighted artworks, in order to then create art to sell. That type of use likely breaches fair use protections, according to the report, and "goes beyond established fair use boundaries." The report's findings seem to strike a clear blow to frontier AI companies, who have generally taken the stance that everything ever published by anyone else should also be theirs. OpenAI is fighting multiple copyright lawsuits, including a high-profile case [brought]() by *The New York Times*, and [has lobbied the Trump Administration]() to redefine copyright law to benefit AI companies; Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg [has taken the stance]() that others' content isn't really worth enough for his company to have to bother compensating people for it; Twitter founder Jack Dorsey and Twitter-buyer-and-rebrander Elon Musk [agreed recently]() that we should "delete all IP law." Musk is heavily invested in his own [AI company](), xAI. Clearly, an official report saying otherwise, emerging from the US federal copyright-enforcement agency, stands at odds with these companies and the interests of their leaders. And without a clear explanation for Perlmutter's firing in the interim, it's hard to imagine that issues around AI and copyright — a clear thorn in the side of much of Silicon Valley and, to that end, [many of Washington's top funders]() — didn't play a role. As [*The Register* noted](), after the report was published, legal experts were [quick to catch]() how odd it was for the Copyright Office to release it as a pre-print draft. "A straight-ticket loss for the AI companies," Blake. E Reid, a tech law professor at the University of Colorado Boulder,[ said in a Bluesky post]() of the report's findings. "Also, the 'Pre-Publication' status is very strange and conspicuously timed relative to the firing of the Librarian of Congress," Reid added, referencing the [sudden removal]() last week of now-former Librarian of Congress Carla Hayden, who was fired on loose allegations related to the Trump Administration's nonsensical war on "DEI" policies. "I continue to wonder (speculatively!)," Reid continued, "if a purge at the Copyright Office is incoming and they felt the need to rush this out." Reid's prediction was made *before* the removal of Perlmutter, who was named to her position in 2020. To make matters even more bizarre, [*Wired* reported]() that two men claiming to be officials from Musk's DOGE squad were blocked on Monday while attempting to enter the Copyright Office's building in DC. A source "identified the men as Brian Nieves, who claimed he was the new deputy librarian, and Paul Perkins, who said he was the new acting director of the Copyright Office, as well as acting Registrar," according to the report. The White House has yet to speak on why Perlmutter was fired, and whether her firing had anything to do with Musk and DOGE. It wouldn't be the first time, though, that recent changes within the government have [benefited Musk and his companies](). **More on AI and copyright:** [*Sam Altman Says Miyazaki Just Needs to Get Over It*]() ## Author At Futurism, I've reported extensively on the rise of AI as a cultural and business force shaping the media industry, and more broadly how those dynamics are changing how we all consume and share information and relate to one another. I'm also fascinated by public health policy and ethics, the role of emerging tech in politics and governance — and the powerful people and forces at those intersections — climate change, and the environment. My investigation on Sports Illustrated's use of AI-generated authors with fictional biographies won a 2024 Mirror Award for "Best Story on Media Coverage of Artificial Intelligence in Journalism and the Media" from Syracuse University's SI Newhouse School, I contributed to Niemen Lab's 2025 Predictions for Journalism series, and I've discussed my work for Futurism during appearances on NPR, CNN, the BBC, the CBC, and more. I grew up in rural Pennsylvania and attended the University of Massachusetts Amherst, where I played Division I field hockey for the Minutewomen as a midfielder. Since then, I've lived in New Orleans, Louisiana and Manhattan, New York. I spend my free time running, reading, perusing archival fashion, and searching for the world’s best negroni. I also have a debonair tuxedo cat, Westley, who's named after "The Princess Bride." ### Author social links [Bluesky]()