Information Community Reacts to Firing of Register of Copyrights
Last month the White House announced the firing of Shira Perlmutter, register of copyrights and director of the US Copyright Office. Perlmutter was appointed by Carla Hayden, the former directory of the Library of Congress who was dismissed just days earlier. As with Hayden’s removal, the news about Perlmutter was greeted with dismay by many in the library community, including those concerned about generative AI and the use of copyrighted works to train large language models.
As Publishers Weekly and others have reported, the firing came shortly after the release of the Office’s latest report on Copyright and Artificial Intelligence. This led some, including US House Representative Joe Morelle (D-NY), to suspect that the firing was precipitated by the report’s suggestion that some uses of copyrighted works for this purpose do not fall under the “fair use” doctrine.
According to Publishers Weekly,
Morelle and others have speculated that Perlmutter’s dismissal was likely due to her release of the preliminary report. But sources close to the office, who spoke with PW on condition of anonymity, suggest that it is more likely that Perlmutter, having heard of her impending dismissal, ordered the report released beforehand to ensure it entered the public record in spite of its incomplete status. … While the report is not a legally binding document, its recommendations on and to AI companies have not been taken well by tech industry titans.
American Library Association president Cindy Hohl stated,
ALA is dismayed at the unlawful dismissal of Register of Copyrights Shira Perlmutter, who has led the Copyright Office with integrity, intelligence and an understanding of intellectual property issues. Register Perlmutter's work with the library community on the U.S. implementation of the Marrakesh Treaty before becoming Registrar demonstrated a commitment to improving access to information resources and reading materials for print disabled persons, both in the United States and around the world.
Publishers, authors, and musicians have also expressed concern that the government will allow the tech industry’s appetite for training AI models to supersede copyright. See Library Journal’s Infodocket for a roundup of stories covering the firing as well as a list of organizations who have objected to the action. Publishers Weekly also reports that the American Association of Publishers has denounced the firing. Perlmutter, for her part, has sued the administration, but on May 28, a judge denied her request for a restraining order that would enable her to remain in her role.
Read the US Copyright Office report on Generative AI training: