Government

Authors and organizations that lost their National Endowment for the Humanities grants won a symbolic victory in Federal Court on Friday. Consistent with rulings from all but about six of the most senior members of the Federal bench, in Authors Guild v. NEH SDNY Judge Colleen McMahon recognized that our government has multiple branches and found that the early April “Mass Cancellation of grants previously awarded” was likely in violation of the First Amendment and the Administrative Procedure, directly in opposition to what Congress had intended and authorized. Judge McMahon entered a preliminary injunction that will at least keep “any […]

Judge Timothy J. Kelly denied former Copyright Office director Shira Perlmutter’s request for a temporary restraining order blocking the Trump Administration from firing her at a hearing on Wednesday. In a lawsuit filed last week, Perlmutter argued that the president does not have the authority to appoint or remove the director of the Copyright Office. Yesterday the judge ruled that Perlmutter did not show how her firing would cause her irreparable harm, the AP reports. If Perlmutter seeks a preliminary injunction, the judge set a deadline of this afternoon for the parties to propose case scheduling.

Former Register of Copyrights and Director at the U.S. Copyright Office Shira Perlmutter filed a lawsuit against the acting librarian of congress and the Trump Administration after the White House fired her this month. Defendants in the suit include “Claimed Acting Librarian of Congress Todd Blanche, Claimed Acting Register of Copyrights Paul Perkins,” Director of the White House Presidential Personnel Office Sergio Gor, Deputy Director of the White House Presidential Personnel Office Trent Morse, and President Trump. Perlmutter argues that only the Librarian of Congress has the power to appoint or remove the register of copyrights–not the president. She also […]

The Authors Guild has filed a lawsuit seeking class action status against DOGE and the National Endowment for the Humanities to reinstate the NEH grants that were withdrawn in April. The organization’s co-plaintiffs include several scholars who had their grants revoked, many of whom were working on book projects. According to the filing, at least 1,400 grants were canceled, amounting to approximately $175 million. The AG argues that the termination of grants was unlawful, as well as deeply disruptive to grantees who were in the middle of their projects and “were required to forego other employment or compensation opportunities during […]