A divided three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit on Wednesday temporarily blocked the Trump administration from removing Shira Perlmutter as the register of copyrights, concluding the president likely lacked authority to unilaterally fire the Copyright Office director.
Circuit Judges Florence Pan and J. Michelle Childs, in a 2-1 decision, said Perlmutter’s purported removal was likely unlawful and raised separation-of-powers concerns because the register serves as a legislative-branch officer who advises Congress on copyright matters. Perlmutter contends she was terminated in May after the White House disapproved of advice she provided to Congress in a report related to artificial intelligence; her office said it received an email stating, “your position as the Register of Copyrights and Director at the U.S. Copyright Office is terminated effective immediately.”
Pan wrote that the president’s alleged interference with a legislative-branch official “as she performs statutorily authorized duties to advise Congress, strikes us as a violation of the separation of powers that is significantly different in kind and in degree from the cases that have come before.” The opinion said Perlmutter’s removal would disrupt the Copyright Office’s work and that she appears to remain in the position despite the administration’s notice of termination.
The appeals court also called into question the lawfulness of President Trump’s appointment of Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche to serve as acting librarian of Congress. The librarian hires the register of copyrights; the librarian is a legislative-branch official who is nominated by the president and confirmed by the Senate, the court said, meaning Blanche’s installation may have been unlawful because that position is subject to Senate confirmation.
U.S. District Judge Timothy Kelly, a Trump nominee, denied Perlmutter’s request for a preliminary injunction in May after finding she had not met the legal burden to show irreparable harm from removal. Pan and Childs said Kelly abused his discretion by failing to weigh other factors favoring an injunction.
Judge Justin Walker, the panel’s lone dissenter and a Trump nominee, wrote that the register of copyrights “exercises executive power in a host of ways” and pointed to recent Supreme Court stays of lower-court injunctions that barred presidential removal of officers exercising executive authority.
Perlmutter, a recognized copyright expert, was appointed register in October 2020 by then-Librarian of Congress Carla Hayden. Hayden was later removed by the White House amid criticism from conservatives. Perlmutter’s lawyers say she has advised Congress on complex copyright and technology issues, including the office’s recent report on artificial intelligence that she says prompted the dismissal.
The D.C. Circuit’s order is an interim step; the ruling preserves Perlmutter’s position for now while litigation proceeds. The case raises questions about the separation of powers and the boundaries of presidential removal authority for officials who perform duties tied to the legislative branch. Further appeals, including rehearing by the full D.C. Circuit or review by the U.S. Supreme Court, remain possible as the parties continue the dispute.