https://www.nytimes.com/2025/10/27/us/politics/trump-supreme-court-copyright-official.html

Skip to contentSkip to site index
Politics
 
 
Today's Paper
 

Supreme Court

  * Chicago Troop Deployment
  * Gun Restrictions for Drug Users
  * Voting Rights Act
  * Emergency Orders
  * Interview With Justice Anthony Kennedy

Advertisement

SKIP ADVERTISEMENT

Supported by

SKIP ADVERTISEMENT

Trump Asks Supreme Court to Let Him Fire the Top Copyright Official

An appeals court sided with the director of the U.S. Copyright
Office, saying her role is to work with Congress.

Listen to this article * 1:49 min Learn more

  * Share full article
  * 
  * 

[27trump-news-copyright-official1-cmlb-articleLarge]
Shira Perlmutter, the register of copyrights, testifying during a
Senate hearing in 2024.Credit...Mariam Zuhaib/Associated Press
Ann E. Marimow

By Ann E. Marimow

Oct. 27, 2025, 3:43 p.m. ET

The Trump administration has asked the Supreme Court to allow the
president to remove the government's top copyright official after a
lower court allowed her to remain in her post that is part of the
Library of Congress.

President Trump ordered the removal in May of Shira Perlmutter, the
register of copyrights, along with the librarian of Congress, Carla
Hayden, who did not challenge her dismissal.

The Supreme Court's conservative majority has repeatedly allowed Mr.
Trump to fire the leaders of independent agencies even as they fight
their dismissals in court, allowing him to seize greater control of
the federal bureaucracy.

The administration made the request after a divided panel of the U.S.
Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit sided with Ms. Perlmutter, the
head of the U.S. Copyright Office. The majority said the register is
unique within the legislative branch and that her role is to advise
Congress on issues related to copyright.

"The president's purported removal of the legislative branch's chief
adviser on copyright matters, based on the advice that she provided
to Congress, is akin to the president trying to fire a federal
judge's law clerk," Judges Florence Pan and J. Michele Childs wrote
in the order.

D. John Sauer, the solicitor general, said in his filing on Monday
that the appeals court had improperly interfered with the president's
power to remove government officials, an argument the administration
has successfully used in other dismissal cases.

The register, he wrote, wields significant regulatory authority over
copyrights, "impacting a wide array of crucial intellectual-property
rights."

Ann Marimow covers the Supreme Court for The Times from Washington.

See more on: U.S. Politics, Donald Trump, Library of Congress, U.S.
Supreme Court

  * Share full article
  * 
  * 

Related Content

  * 
  * 
  * 
  * 
  * 
  * 

  * 
  * 
  * 

  * 
  * 
  * 
  * 
  * 
  * 
  * 
  * 
  * 
  * 

Advertisement

SKIP ADVERTISEMENT

Site Index

Site Information Navigation

  * (c) 2025 The New York Times Company

  * NYTCo
  * Contact Us
  * Accessibility
  * Work with us
  * Advertise
  * T Brand Studio
  * Privacy Policy
  * Cookie Policy
  * Terms of Service
  * Terms of Sale
  * Site Map
  * Canada
  * International
  * Help
  * Subscriptions

  * Manage Privacy Preferences