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Trump’s firing of U.S. Copyright Office chief sparks outcry over AI and music copyright protections.
The abrupt firing of U.S. Copyright Office director Shira Perlmutter has ignited a firestorm in the music and creative industries, with critics warning that the move could signal a dangerous erosion of copyright protections—particularly for musicians whose work is increasingly being scraped to train artificial intelligence.
Perlmutter’s termination, delivered by email and confirmed over the weekend, came just days after her office released a landmark 100-page report raising red flags about the use of copyrighted material to train generative AI systems. The report didn’t call for immediate legislative action but emphasized that AI development stages “involve using copyrighted works in ways that implicate the owners’ exclusive rights.”
Now, music industry leaders and lawmakers are sounding the alarm.
“She understood what we all know to be true: human creativity and authorship are the foundation of copyright law,” said the American Federation of Musicians in a statement condemning her dismissal. “For that, it appears she lost her job.”
The firing follows a broader shakeup at the Library of Congress, which saw Librarian of Congress Carla Hayden ousted just days before. Like Perlmutter, Hayden was also terminated via email. Both officials were originally appointed during President Trump’s first term, but their removal has drawn backlash for what some see as politically motivated retaliation—particularly given Perlmutter’s stance on AI.
Representative Joseph Morelle, the top Democrat on the House Administration Committee, pointed directly to the AI report as the likely trigger.
“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, calling the firing “a brazen, unprecedented power grab with no legal basis.”
Musk, whose AI company xAI is one of several firms facing scrutiny over data collection practices, has publicly supported dismantling IP laws, even endorsing a post on social media that read, “delete all IP law.” His influence looms large in the Trump administration’s push to modernize federal systems through a new agency, the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), which aims to harness AI to streamline government operations.
But for musicians, songwriters, and composers, the implications go far beyond bureaucracy. They fear that a weakened Copyright Office may no longer advocate for the protections that underpin their livelihoods.
The Copyright Office registers more than half a million works annually, from albums and film scores to digital content and literature. It also plays a critical advisory role in shaping copyright legislation—work that becomes even more urgent as AI challenges traditional notions of originality and ownership.
Perlmutter, who had previously served as policy director at the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, was widely respected for her balanced approach to IP policy. Her ousting leaves the Copyright Office leaderless at a time when global copyright norms are in flux.
A weakening of American copyright protections, particularly around the use of creative works in artificial intelligence training, could have serious ripple effects for Canadian musicians. Because the U.S. remains a dominant market for music distribution and licensing, any erosion of copyright standards there sets a precedent that could undermine the value of Canadian-created content abroad. If American AI companies are allowed to freely scrape copyrighted music without permission or compensation, Canadian artists—whose work is often available globally through streaming platforms—may find their songs used without consent, attribution, or pay. This not only threatens the income and rights of Canadian musicians but also pressures Canada’s own copyright framework to keep pace with cross-border challenges in the digital age.
With AI models increasingly ingesting everything from pop lyrics to orchestral scores, the need for robust copyright protections has never been greater. For many in the music industry, Perlmutter’s firing is more than just a political shake-up—it’s a warning shot.