Elon Musk’s power play at US Copyright Office receives backlash

A recent power play by the tech billionaire Elon Musk and allies to take control of the US Copyright Office has spectacularly backfired.

After US President Donald Trump fired Librarian of Congress Carla Hayden and Register of Copyrights Shira Perlmutter, Musk's supposed allies were expected to take over.

However, the two men appointed to lead the Copyright Office, Paul Perkins and Brian Nieves, are linked to the MAGA wing of the Trump coalition, known for being hostile to the tech industry.

The removals of Hayden and Perlmutter were seen as a win for the tech-friendly wing of the Republican Party, particularly given the timing.

Earlier, the Copyright Office had released a draft report suggesting some AI training methods might not be considered fair use, posing potential problems for AI companies like Musk's that rely on vast amounts of copyrighted material.

Perkins, now acting Register of Copyrights, has an eight-year background at the Department of Justice (DOJ), focusing on fraud cases during the first Trump administration.

Nieves, essentially acting as deputy librarian, previously worked as a lawyer on the House Judiciary Committee and alongside Jim Jordan investigating Big Tech.

This unexpected turn of events has led to rare alignment between Democrats and Republicans, with many expressing concerns about big tech exploiting copyrighted works to train AI models.