Stephen Thaler’s Legendary AI Copyright Losing Streak Ends With Nowhere Left To Appeal

https://fed.brid.gy/r/https://www.techdirt.com/2026/03/10/stephen-thalers-legendary-ai-copyright-losing-streak-ends-with-nowhere-left-to-appeal/

"In a creative market dominated by five publishers, four studios, three labels, two mobile app stores, and a single company that controls all the ebooks and audiobooks, giving a creative worker extra rights to bargain with is like giving your bullied kid more lunch money.

We need to protect artists from AI predation, not just create a new way for artists to be mad about their impoverishment.

Incredibly enough, there is a really simple way to do that [protect artists from AI predation]… All through this #AIbubble, the #CopyrightOffice has maintained—correctly—that #AIgenerated works cannot be copyrighted, because copyright is exclusively for #humans. That is why the “monkey selfie” is in the #publicdomain. #Copyright is only awarded to works of human creative expression that are fixed in a tangible medium.

And not only has the Copyright Office taken this position, they have defended it vigorously in court, repeatedly winning judgments to uphold this principle."

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/ng-interactive/2026/jan/18/tech-ai-bubble-burst-reverse-centaur

"Incredibly enough, there is a really simple way to [protect artists from #AIpredation]…

The #CopyrightOffice has maintained—correctly—that #AIgenerated works cannot be copyrighted… That is why the “monkey selfie” is in the #publicdomain. #Copyright is only awarded to works of human creative expression that are fixed in a tangible medium.

…they have defended this principle vigorously in court, repeatedly winning judgments to uphold it." @pluralistic

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/ng-interactive/2026/jan/18/tech-ai-bubble-burst-reverse-centaur

I honestly don't know if this is good or bad. The U.S. Copyright Office continues to be beholden to extremely large copyright holders and media publishing empires whose one and only goal is to extract eternal rents for every use of a copyrighted work, without any consideration for social ("public") welfare

"The Supreme Court on Wednesday barred Donald Trump from firing the director of the U.S. Copyright Office for the time being.

Shira Perlmutter will stay in her job, part of the Library of Congress, while the court rules on two related cases. Trump had made an emergency appeal to the court to get her removed immediately, which has worked in the past for the administration with other officials.

This time, though, Perlmutter’s position has the word “Congress” in it, and she argued in court that this meant she was part of the legislative branch of government and thus couldn’t be fired from the executive branch. Perlmutter’s lawsuit also noted that Trump disagreed with a report she authored, in which she said that tech companies would likely have to pay licensing fees to access copyrighted materials for artificial intelligence models.

“Today, the administration’s unlawful executive overreach was not greenlit by the U.S. Supreme Court,” said Skye Perryman, president and CEO of Democracy Forward, which represented Perlmutter. “We are pleased that the Court deferred the government’s motion to stay our court order in a case that is critically important for rule of law, the separation of powers, and the independence of the Library of Congress.”"

https://newrepublic.com/post/203753/donald-trump-supreme-court-fire-copyright-official

#USA #Trump #Copyright #CopyrightOffice #SupremeCourt

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

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

Court Temporarily Stops Trump-Vance Administration’s Unlawful Attempted Takeover of the Library of Congress – Democracy Forward

Court Temporarily Stops Trump-Vance Administration’s Unlawful Attempted Takeover of the Library of Congress

Press Release September 10, 2025

Washington, DC — In a significant victory for the separation of powers, a federal court today granted an injunction pending appeal, temporarily preventing the Trump-Vance administration from unlawfully removing the Register of Copyrights and Director of the U.S. Copyright Office, Shira Perlmutter, from her position, and from installing Executive Branch officials to run the Library of Congress and the Copyright Office. Democracy Forward is representing Perlmutter in this case. 

The decision by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia pauses, for now, what the court said might constitute a “grave intrusion by the President into the constitutional powers of a coordinate branch of government.” The ruling confirms that the President does not have the legal authority to fire or replace the Register of Copyrights — a position that can be filled only by the Librarian of Congress.

“This is a significant victory for the rule of law, the separation of powers, and the independence of Congress. The President does not have the authority to remove the Register of Copyrights or to install his own officials to run the nation’s library. We are proud to represent Shira Perlmutter in defending the integrity of our democratic institutions, and we will continue this fight as it proceeds,” said Brian Netter, Legal Director at Democracy Forward.

–Democracy Forward

This case challenges the President’s unlawful actions, including attempts to appoint a Justice Department official as Acting Register of Copyrights and to name an Acting Librarian of Congress under the Federal Vacancies Reform Act — an action that is legally invalid because Congress structured the Library of Congress to be part of the Legislative Branch under the Act, not the Executive.

The court’s order ensures that Perlmutter remains the lawful Register of Copyrights, and that any actions taken by improperly appointed officials at the Library of Congress have no legal effect, while the case continues.

The case is Perlmutter v. Blanche. Perlmutter is represented by Democracy Forward’s Brian Netter and Allyson Scher, and Munger, Tolles & Olson LLP.

The court’s decision can be read here [and PDF below], and Democracy Forward’s initial complaint and motion for a preliminary injunction can be read here. 

Continue/Read Original Article Here: Court Temporarily Stops Trump-Vance Administration’s Unlawful Attempted Takeover of the Library of Congress – Democracy Forward

#2025 #America #Books #BrianNetter #CopyrightOffice #DemocracyForward #DistrictOfColumbia #DonaldTrump #History #Libraries #Library #LibraryOfCongress #Opinion #Politics #RegisterOfCopyrights #Resistance #Science #Trump #TrumpAdministration #USCourtOfAppeals #UnitedStates

The Copyright Coup: How One Firing Sparked a Legal War Over AI and Power

https://thartribune.com/the-copyright-coup-how-one-firing-sparked-a-legal-war-over-ai-and-power/

The head of the U.S. Copyright Office is suing Donald Trump after being fired. Just one day earlier, her office admitted AI companies are ripping off creators and breaking copyright laws…

#USA #CopyrightOffice #Coup #Lawsuit #Crime #SilencingEvidence #CopyrightLaws #AI #ConflictOfInterest #CorruptGovernment #Trump #Investment #Musk #Billionaires #OpenCrime #Corruption