Federal Judge Denies Ex-Register Shira Perlmutter’s Preliminary Injunction Motion — Appeal Already Underway

Fired Register of Copyrights Shira Perlmutter’s preliminary injunction motion has been denied, and an appeal is already underway.

Both those developments just recently came to light, after the overarching legal battle kicked off in May. As we’ve covered in detail, a reinstatement-minded Perlmutter claims that her Copyright Office dismissal was “blatantly unlawful.”

On the other side of the courtroom confrontation, the Trump administration has from the outset maintained that the “removal was lawful.” Also in May, Judge Timothy Kelly denied Perlmutter’s sought temporary restraining order, which was separate from the desired preliminary injunction.

Among other things, said injunction would enable Perlmutter to “resume her work as Register of Copyrights” and prevent the Trump administration “from encumbering her efforts to perform her duties,” according to the relevant document.

But as mentioned, Judge Kelly has officially denied the motion, explaining in more words that Perlmutter won’t suffer irreparable harm in the absence of an injunction.

“The Court’s analysis begins and ends with irreparable harm,” Judge Kelly wrote. “Perlmutter argues that her removal from office—even if only temporary—is irreparable harm that can only be prevented by a preliminary injunction. The Court is unconvinced, so it will deny her motion.”

Supporting the determination is, of course, a multifaceted analysis of Perlmutter’s arguments as well as prior rulings in separate cases. Without getting too tied up in the legal nitty-gritty in this breakdown, Judge Kelly indicated that the Copyright Office can continue operating in Perlmutter’s absence, regardless of whether she’s ultimately reinstated on the merits of her core complaint.

“Here, to the extent that Perlmutter argues that she suffers harm solely from not functioning as the Register of Copyrights, she provides no reason to think that any such harm cannot be remediated in the ordinary course by returning her to her position if she prevails on the merits,” the judge explained.

“But to repeat,” Judge Kelly drove home, “Perlmutter has not shown that the existence of the Copyright Office is at stake, or that her position will likely be irreparably changed without an injunction. … Yet again, Perlmutter has not shown that the Copyright Office will grind to a halt without her.”

Furthermore, possible injuries to third parties like the Copyright Office and the Library of Congress “are not a basis to find irreparable harm,” per the judge.

As noted, we won’t have to wait for the involved showdown’s next development: Perlmutter and her legal team promptly informed the court of their appeal.

“Plaintiff provides notice of her appeal to the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit from this Court’s July 30, 2025 order and opinion,” the plaintiff relayed yesterday.

With that, it’ll be worth keeping an eye out for the actual appeal – and the next installment in the Copyright Office’s multi-volume artificial intelligence report, which Perlmutter highlighted as part of her injunction push. As explored by DMN Pro, evidence suggests that the acting USCO appointees aren’t exactly Big Tech proponents.