Boston University School of Law

Wendy J. Gordon

William Fairfield Warren Distinguished Professor
Professor of Law
B.A. with distinction in all subjects, Cornell University
J.D., University of Pennsylvania Law School

Interests: copyright; trademark; unfair competition; legal theory; property theory; restitution; torts; law & economics

Wendy Gordon’s work emphasizes that our legal environment must cultivate the exchange of ideas, expression and information for everyone -- not only established players in various industries. Her writings reflect her passion for creative exchange. Renowned for her application of philosophy and economics to copyright and related common-law areas and for her work on fair use, she has published on four continents, received numerous honors and grants and speaks to audiences all over the world.

Her favorite audience, however, is her students. The recipient of a teaching award, Professor Gordon particularly enjoys interdisiplinary teaching;  she has twice cotaught a course in property theory with a professor of Philosophy, and with a master Shakespearean actor she twice cotaught a seminar in Copyright and Rhetoric.

Professor Gordon’s honors include serving as a Fulbright scholar, a Visiting Senior Research Fellow at Oxford’s St. John's College, a resident at the Rockefeller Foundation retreat in Bellagio, a visiting fellow at Oxford’s Programme in Comparative Media Law and Policy and the recipient of a New Jersey Governor's Fellowship in the Humanities. Her scholarship has been cited in three opinions of the U.S. Supreme Court. She has twice served as the Chair of the AALS Section on Intellectual Property.

Often anthologized, Professor Gordon's publications include:

  • The Economics of Copyright (co-edited with R. Watt, 2003)
  • “Fair Use as Market Failure” (Columbia Law Review)
  • "Render Copyright Unto Caesar” (University of Chicago Law Review), (also published in Croatian)
  • “On Owning Information” (Virginia Law Review)
  • “A Property Right in Self-Expression” (Yale Law Journal) (also published in Chinese)
  • “An Inquiry into the Merits of Copyright” (Stanford Law Review)
  • The Oxford Handbook on Legal Studies’ chapter on intellectual property (also published in Japanese)