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June 5, 2025

Top Noteworthy Copyright Stories in May 2025

by Rachel Kim

In May, the U.S. Copyright Office released its third report in its AI study, focusing on AI training and fair use issues. Additionally, leadership in the Library of Congress and U.S. Copyright Office were dismissed by the Trump Administration, resulting in a lawsuit. Here is a quick snapshot of those and the other top noteworthy copyright news stories (in chronological order) from May 2025.

Hearing Held on Motions for Summary Judgment in Kadrey v. Meta AI Case

On May 1, Judge Vincent Chhabria of the district court for the Northern District of California held a hearing on cross-motions for partial summary judgment in the AI class-action infringement lawsuit brought by authors of literary works in Kadrey v. Meta. Ahead of the hearing, Judge Chhabria sent the parties twelve questions, some of which he asked during the three-hour hearing. First questioning Meta’s counsel, Judge Chhabria said that he agreed Meta’s use is “highly” transformative, and noted that to overcome this, the plaintiffs must show evidence of existing or potential harm to the market for their literary works. Regarding Meta using pirated copies for training, Judge Chhabria said that while he agreed that it was “messed up,” it did not mean that Meta’s use of the works for training was infringing. Judge Chhabria agreed with Kadrey’s counsel that Meta copied expression and that the Google Books case and intermediate step fair use cases are not a helpful analogy to generative AI copying. Judge Chhabria also spoke generally about the ability of generative AI to flood or “obliterate” the market with “cheap imitations,” and he made a few references to the market harm being more cognizable in cases involving other types of works. More information is available in the Copyright Alliance’s blog post about the hearing.

White House Dismisses Librarian of Congress and Register of Copyrights

On the evening of May 8, the Trump Administration dismissed Dr. Carla Hayden from her position as Librarian of Congress. A few days later, on May 10, the 14th Register of Copyrights Shira Perlmutter, received an email message from the White House, informing her that she was “terminated” from her position at the U.S. Copyright Office.

On May 9, the U.S. Copyright Office (USCO) released a pre-publication version of the third report of its AI Study, which addresses AI and copyright issues related to input and ingestion of copyrighted works to train AI models. When issuing the report, the Office noted that the substance of the report will not change and that a formal publication of the report would only add an Executive Summary and reconcile citation and formatting issues. In the report, the Office concludes that the outcome of whether certain uses of copyrighted works during the AI training process qualifies for the fair use exception will be highly fact-dependent and that government intervention in the AI licensing market would be premature at this time. The Copyright Alliance wrote a blog post about key takeaways from the report.

Committee on House Administration Holds ‘Music and AI’ Roundtable in Nashville

On May 9, a two-hour roundtable was convened by Committee on House Administration (CHA) Chairman Bryan Steil (R-WI) and Ranking Member Joe Morelle (D-NY) in Nashville, TN, on the impact of AI on music and copyright. Roundtable participants included Jon Blass, Grammy-winning mix engineer and Recording Academy member; Lee Thomas Miller, Nashville Songwriter’s Association International (NSAI); Danielle Aguirre, National Music Publishers’ Association (NMPA); Jody Whelan, Oh Boy Records; Ben Sheffner, Motion Picture Association; and Keith Kupferschmid, Copyright Alliance. The invitation-only event focused on various copyright-related challenges posed by AI-generated music, the Copyright Royalty Board, and modernization of the U.S. Copyright Office.

SJC IP Subcommittee Holds Hearing on Foreign Threats to American IP

On May 14, the Senate Judiciary Committee’s (SJC) IP Subcommittee held a hearing titled Foreign Threats to American Innovation and Economic Leadership. Witnesses included Aaron Bores, Executive Vice President, Product Development, Moen; Mark Cohen, Senior Technology Fellow, Asia Society of Northern California, Senior Fellow, University of Akron Law School; Bradford Muller, Vice President, Corporate Communications, Charlotte Pipe and Foundry Company; and Karyn Temple, Senior Executive Vice President and Global General Counsel, Motion Picture Association (MPA). The hearing focused on the growing threat of intellectual property theft and counterfeiting by China, highlighting its impact on American innovation, economic leadership, and consumer safety. The need for robust IP laws and international cooperation was emphasized to maintain U.S. competitiveness and protect consumers. Temple spoke to the absence of site blocking measures in the United States despite widespread international adoption.

On May 20, the American Law Institute (ALI) approved the final sections of its controversial Copyright Restatement at its Annual Meeting in Washington, DC. During the meeting, there was no mention of the resignation letter sent by a group of 14 Advisers and Liaisons, the letter from four leading copyright law professors, the letter from the ABA, or any of the other resignations. The letters are very critical of the controversial Copyright Restatement and explain that the Restatement fails to accurately reflect the law. In her opening remarks, ALI Director Diane Wood downplayed the criticisms and ignored the resignations, simply saying that disagreements are routine for any ALI project and that the process worked exactly as intended. The Copyright Alliance issued a statement regarding the resignations and wrote a blog post highlighting the major problems and issues with the controversial project.

Perlmutter Sues White House for Wrongful Dismissal

On May 22, Register Shira Perlmutter, who was dismissed by the Trump Administration on May 10, filed a complaint against the White House, Todd Blanche, Paul Perkins, Sergio Gor, Trent Morse, and President Trump. Perlmutter argues that Trump’s appointment of Todd Blanche as Acting Librarian was made in violation of the Appointments Clause and the Vacancies Act because the Librarian of Congress position is a Presidential appointee with Senate confirmation position in a legislative branch office. The complaint also includes a claim that Trump’s dismissal of Perlmutter was unconstitutional, as the Register is appointed by and serves under the direction of the Librarian of Congress, who is the only authority permitted to remove someone from the Register position. On May 29, Judge Timothy Kelly of the district court for the District of Columbia denied Perlmutter’s motion for a temporary restraining order (TRO). During the hearing, Judge Kelly focused almost exclusively on the need to show irreparable harm and stated that harms arising from Perlmutter’s dismissal would be to the U.S. Copyright Office and not to Perlmutter. Judge Kelly also questioned why Congress has not intervened in the case and referred to the Library of Congress as a “unicorn,” noting that the legislative-executive character of the Library of Congress presented novel issues. On May 29, Perlmutter filed a motion for a briefing schedule proposing that her motion for summary judgment be submitted by June 5. The Trump Administration opposed the expedited scheduling. A hearing on this issue is scheduled for June 3rd.

Solicitor General Files Brief Supporting Cox’s Cert Petition in Sony v. Cox Case

On May 27, the Solicitor General’s office filed an amicus brief in response to the Supreme Court’s request related to the cert petitions filed by both parties in the Sony v. Cox case. The Solicitor General opines that the Court should grant Cox’s petition and deny Sony’s petition, taking Cox’s side on all three questions presented in the case, arguing that: (1) an ISP is not liable for contributory copyright infringement for failing to terminate subscribers after receiving notices of infringement (and therefore SCOTUS should review the court of appeals’ contributory infringement holding); (2) the court of appeals’ decision on willfulness should be reviewed because the jury instruction was erroneous; and (3) the court of appeals’ rejection of Sony’s vicarious liability theory should not be reviewed because it wasn’t shown that Cox has any financial interest in the infringement of its subscribers.

Here are a few copyright-related events to look forward to and important deadlines to keep in mind for the month of June.

CCC Webinar on Responsible AI on Using and Sharing IP at Work: On June 12 from 11 a.m. to 12 p.m. ET, the Copyright Clearance Center (CCC), will host an event titled Responsible AI: Using and Sharing IP at Work. The event will cover how organizations can balance innovation with security, helping to ensure that confidential data, copyrighted materials, and proprietary information remain protected. Expert speakers will cover the risks of using generative AI tools, provide actionable strategies for safeguarding intellectual property, and share insights from recent industry research. More information is available here.

Deadline to Submit Comments to USCO NOI on CCB Operations: June 23 is the deadline to submit reply comments to the U.S. Copyright Office (USCO) in response to its notice of inquiry (NOI) and request for comments to inform the Office’s study on the Copyright Claims Board (CCB) and its operations.

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