The White House's dismissal of Shira Perlmutter from her role as head of the U.S. Copyright Office has raised concerns among Library of Congress employees. This decision follows President Trump's recent firing of Librarian Carla Hayden, who appointed Perlmutter. A fear of job insecurity has spread within the office. Notably, Perlmutter's termination came after her office published a detailed report discussing the use of copyrighted works in training AI systems, causing speculation that her dismissal was related to this controversial topic.
"Several stages in the development of generative AI involve using copyrighted works in ways that implicate the owners' exclusive rights," the report said. "The key question, as most commenters agreed, is whether those acts of prima facie infringement can be excused as fair use."
This month, Perlmutter's office released a more than 100-page report on artificial intelligence that raised concerns about using copyrighted materials to train AI systems, which some employees suspected may have influenced Perlmutter's termination.
In the hours since the termination announcement, Library of Congress employees have shared fears that anyone could lose their job next, said an employee who spoke on the condition of anonymity for fear of retaliation.
Shira Perlmutter, the register of copyrights and director of the Copyright Office, was terminated by email, Newlen said in his brief message to employees, according to a copy The Washington Post reviewed.
Collection
[
|
...
]