Rebecca Tushnet
Frank Stanton Professor of the First Amendment
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
Representative Publications
- Eric Goldman & Rebecca Tushnet, Advertising & Marketing Law (6th ed. 2022).
- Rebecca Tushnet, Ellen Goodman & Samara Spence, SEC's Climate Rule Is Compatible With The 1st Amendment, Law360 (July 28, 2022).
- Rebecca Tushnet & Laura Heymann, Brief of Amici Curiae Intellectual Property Scholars in Support of Defendants-Appellees, Capitol Records, LLC. v. Vimeo, Inc., 21-2949(L) (2d Cir. July 14, 2022).
- Matthew D. Asbell, Marshall Leaffer, Jennifer Simmons et al., Twenty-Ninth Annual Conference International Intellectual Property Law & Policy - Session 7: Competition, Two Concurrent Sessions & Trademark Law (Apr. 22, 2022).
- Daniel R. Bereskin, Irene Calboli, Jeffery A. Handelman et al., Twenty-Ninth Annual Conference International Intellectual Property Law & Policy Panel: Trademark Law - Is the Likelihood of Confusion Test Getting out of Hand? (Apr. 21, 2022).