Rebecca Tushnet
Frank Stanton Professor of the First Amendment Faculty Co-Director, Berkman Klein Center for Internet and Society
Rebecca Tushnet is a professor of law at Harvard Law School. After clerking for Chief Judge Edward R. Becker of the Third Circuit and Associate Justice David H. Souter on the Supreme Court, she practiced intellectual property law at Debevoise & Plimpton before beginning teaching. Her publications include “Worth a Thousand Words: The Images of Copyright Law” (Harvard L. Rev. 2012); “Gone in 60 Milliseconds: Trademark Law and Cognitive Science” (Texas L. Rev. 2008); and “Copy This Essay: How Fair Use Doctrine Harms Free Speech and How Copying Serves It” (Yale L.J. 2004). Her work currently focuses on copyright, trademark and false advertising law. Her blog, at tushnet.blogspot.com, has been on the ABA’s Blawg 100 list of top legal blogs for the past three years. Professor Tushnet helped found the Organization for Transformative Works, a nonprofit dedicated to supporting and promoting fanworks, and currently volunteers on its legal committee. She is also an expert on the law of engagement rings.
Education
- A.B. Harvard College, 1995
- J.D. Yale Law School, 1998
Clerkships
- Edward R. Becker, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit, 1998 - 1999
- Justice David H. Souter, U.S. Supreme Court, 1999 - 2000
Recent Publications
- Rebecca Tushnet, Misleading Advertising as a Matter of Unfair Competition Law, in Research Handbook on Unfair Competition and Passing Off (Graeme B Dinwoodie and Ansgar Ohly eds., forthcoming 2026).
- Rebecca Tushnet, Distinguishing Marks, Jotwell (Oct. 31, 2025) (reviewing Dustin Marlan, Servicing Trade Dress: Demystifying the Tertium Quid, 58 U.C. Davis Law Review 1513 (2025)).
- Rebecca Tushnet, History and Tradition in First Amendment Intellectual Property Cases: A Critique, Marquette Intellectual Property Law Review (forthcoming 2026).
- Rebecca Tushnet, Fan fiction, in Elgar Concise Encyclopedia of Law and Literature (Robert Spoo & Simon Stern eds., 2025).
- Eric Goldman & Rebecca Tushnet, Advertising & Market Law: Cases & Materials (7th ed., 2024).