Trump Appeals to Supreme Court to Remove Copyright Office Director

President Donald Trump has asked the U.S. Supreme Court to let him dismiss a top official at the Library of Congress, following a lower court decision that determined the position is independent of the White House.

The case involves Shira Perlmutter, director of the U.S. Copyright Office, who was removed from her post after releasing a report suggesting that copyrighted materials used to train artificial intelligence models would likely require licensing. The Trump administration objected to the finding, which could require tech companies to pay for copyrighted content.

Perlmutter filed a lawsuit, arguing that only the Librarian of Congress, not the president, can remove her. Earlier this year, a divided D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals agreed, ruling that the register of copyrights operates under the legislative branch. Judge Florence Pan wrote that the president’s interference violated the separation of powers.

In response, Solicitor General D. John Sauer told the Supreme Court that the appeals court’s ruling “contravenes settled precedent” and misinterprets the Librarian and Register’s legal roles. Trump appointed Todd Blanche, one of his former private attorneys, as acting Librarian of Congress, and Paul Perkins to replace Perlmutter, though both were denied access to their offices pending the dispute.

The Supreme Court has requested a response from Perlmutter by November 10.

Credit: CNN Newsource

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