Betsy Rosenblatt - Manhattan Beach, CA

Overview

Education

• Legal Education

  • Harvard Law School, Cambridge, Massachusetts, 1999
    Honors: Honors Graduate

• Non Legal Education

  • Williams College
    Honors: Honors and High Honors

Current Employment Position(s)

• Of Counsel 

Past Positions

• Irell & Manella LLP
• Whittier Law School
• UCLA Law School

Classes and Seminars

• At Case Western Reserve University Law School: Copyright Law; Trademark Law; Law Review Seminar
  
• At University of Tulsa Law School: Civil Procedure I & II; Copyright Law; Intellectual Property Law
  
• At U.C. Davis School of Law: Intellectual Property Law; Trademark Law; Copyright Law; Video Game Law; Civil Procedure.
  
• At University of Maastricht: U.S. Copyright Law
  
• At Whittier Law School: Patent Law; Copyright Law; Trademark Law; Video Game Law; Recent Issues in Intellectual Property Law; Advanced Patent Law; The Legal Mind; Civil Procedure I & II.
  
• At USC Law School: Trademark Law.
  
• At UCLA Law School: Advanced Copyright Law; Advanced Patent Law.
  
• “Comic Book Law School 303” (panel), San Diego Comic Con, July 26, 2025.
  
• “Owned: Comics Copyright and the Public Domain” (panel), San Diego Comic Con, July 25, 2025.
  
• “‘Schedule A Pleading,’ Trademark Overreach, and the Role of E-Commerce Platforms,” Internet Law Works in Progress, Santa Clara Law School, March 8, 2025.
  
• “Copyright and Honesty,” Works in Progress in Intellectual Property Conference, UNLV Law School, Jan. 31, 2025.
  
• “Legendary Houses: Voguing, Trademarks, and Transformation,” University of Akron 2024 IP Scholars Forum, Dec. 13, 2024.
  
• “Social Justice Implications of ‘Schedule A Pleading’ in Trademark,” Mosaic IP Law and Policy Roundtable Conference, Marquette Law School, November 2, 2024.
  
• “Comic Bans: On the Front Lines” (panelist), San Diego Comic Con, July 27, 2024.
  
• “Comic Book Law School 303: AI, Spec Scripts and Fan Fiction, Free Speech vs. Trademark Rights, and Other Hot Topics” (panelist), San Diego Comic Con, July 27, 2024.
  
• “We Are Unprepared But Also We Are Prepared,” Celebration of Dan Burk’s Scholarly Contributions, University of California, Irvine, Feb. 9, 2024.
  
• “Latest Developments in Copyright, Trademark and Right of Publicity,” USC-BHBA Institute on Entertainment Law and Business, USC Gould School of Law, Oct. 14, 2023.
  
• Awarded the Public Knowledge 2023 IP3 Intellectual Property Award (Sept. 28, 2023, Washington D.C)
  
• “Comic Book Law School 303” (panel), San Diego Comic Con, July 22, 2023.
  
• “Defending Comics Today: Civil Rights and Censorship,” (panel), San Diego Comic Con, July 21, 2023.
  
• “Considering the Role of Fairness in Fair Use,” University of Houston IPIL Symposium (Santa Fe, NM), June 3, 2023.
  
• “Plenary Session: Wikimedia and Access to Knowledge” (panel), MOSAIC IP, Marquette University Law School (online conference), Oct. 29, 2022.
  
• “Plenary Session: Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts v. Goldsmith Amici” (panel), MOSAIC IP, Marquette University Law School (online conference), Oct. 28, 2022.
  
• “Fandoms, Fan Fiction, and Fair Use: Transformative Use For Creators, Part 1” (panel), Webinar, Library Futures, August 17, 2022.
  
• “Warner Bros. v. Fans: Lessons from Litigation” (plenary speaker), Intellectual Property Scholars’ Conference, Stanford University Law School, August 12, 2022.
  
• “Comic Book Law School 303: Fan Clubs, Role Playing, and Other Hot Topics” (panel), San Diego Comic Con, July 23, 2022.
  
• “Intellectual Freedom for Educators” (panel), San Diego Comic Con, July 23, 2022.
  
• “EFF At Home: Copyright for Creators Town Hall on Filter Mandates,” April 8, 2022.
  
• “Informational Functionality,” Works in Progress in Intellectual Property Law, St. Louis University, February 18, 2022.
  
• “IP Law in the Shadow of Norms,” Intellectual Property Scholars’ Conference (online due to pandemic), August 4, 2021.
  
• “Copyright Fair Use Staff Briefing: What You Need to Know,” Presentation to U.S. House and Senate Staff, May 13, 2021.
  
• “Fandom is Nonexcludable,” Intellectual Property Scholars’ Conference, Stanford Law School (online due to pandemic), August 21, 2020.
  
• “Copyright Law Year in Review 2019: What’s New, What’s Happening, What’s On The Way,” Los Angeles Copyright Society, Jan. 13, 2020.
  
• “Regulating Expression and Equality in Collegiate eSports” (peer reviewed), Annual Conference of the Association of Internet Researchers (online due to pandemic), Oct. 12-16, 2021 (joint presentation with Dan Burk).
  
• “Trademarks and Expressive Works” (panel), BYU Copyright & Trademark Symposium, Oct. 11, 2019.
  
• “IP and the Question of Who Creates,” Intellectual Property Scholars’ Conference (plenary speaker), DePaul University Law School, August 9, 2019.
  
• “Comic Book Law School 303: Super Lawyers Unite!” (panel), San Diego Comic Con, July 20, 2019.
  
• “Professor vs. Practitioner Debate: ‘Fan or Felon’ or, More Accurately, ‘Fan or Infringer?’” International Trademark Association Annual Meeting, Boston, May 19, 2019.
  
• “2018 Copyright Year in Review: New Cases and Future Predictions in an Ever-Changing Legal Landscape,” Beverly Hills Bar Association, February 21, 2019.
  
• “Copyright’s One-Way Appropriation Ratchet,” U.C. Davis School of Law, February 20, 2019.
  
• “Copyright’s Excess—Intersections With Social Justice,” Symposium on Copyright’s Excess: Money and Music in the U.S. Recording Industry, Texas A&M University School of Law, February 15, 2019.
  
• “(Re)Verbing Intellectual Property Law,” Intellectual Property Scholars’ Conference, University of California, Berkeley Law School, August 9-11, 2018.
  
• “Westworld: Further Beyond Frontier Law” (panel), San Diego Comic Con, July 19, 2018.
  
• “Fair Use: Comparing the Approach under Trademark and Copyright Law” (panel), International Trademark Association Annual Meeting, Seattle, May 19, 2018.
  
• “User-Generated Disrupters and Transformative Uses” (panel), Geaux Create: Disruption, Continuity, and the Role of Law in Creativity, Tulane Law School, April 6, 2018.
  
• “Protecting a Brand” (panel), Pepperdine Law School Journal of Business, Entrepreneurship & The Law Startups & The Law Symposium, March 28, 2018.
  
• “DMCA Section 1201 Rulemakings: Thoughts Provoked, Lessons Learned,” DMCA at 20 Symposium, Texas A&M Law School, March 23, 2018.
  
• “Exploring the Role of Fair Use in Fan Culture” (panel), University of Michigan Law School, March 16, 2018.
  
• “2017 Copyright Year in Review: New Cases and Future Predictions in an Ever-Changing Legal Landscape,” Beverly Hills Bar Association, Feb. 22, 2018.
  
• “Can Copyright Ever Live Forever?” State Bar of California 42nd IP Institute, November 2, 2017.
  
• “Fair Use as Resistance,” Symposium, The Discursive Turn in Copyright, U.C. Irvine, Oct. 27, 2017.
  
• “Copyright Law Update,” HIPLA/University of Houston Law Center 33rd Annual Institute on Intellectual Property Law, October 7, 2017.
  
• “Westworld: Beyond Frontier Law,” (Panel) San Diego Comic Con, July 22, 2017.
  
• “Comic Book Law School 303: ‘A Helping Hand’,” (Panel) San Diego Comic Con, July 22, 2017.
  
• “Copyrighting Fashion After Varsity Brands,” (Panel) NYU Annual Survey of American Law Symposium, NYU Law School, Feb. 24, 2017.
  
• “2016 Copyright Year in Review: New Cases and Future Predictions in an Ever-Changing Legal Landscape,” Beverly Hills Bar Association, Feb. 23, 2017.
  
• “Uncertainty Aversion and Intellectual Property,” WIPIP (Works in Progress in Intellectual Property) Conference, Boston University Law School, Feb. 10, 2017.
  
• “Comic Book Law School 303: New Revelations,” (Panel) San Diego Comic Con, July 23, 2016.
  
• “How It Works: Understanding Copyright Law in the New Creative Economy” (Panel) [Panel and travel supported by Re:Create Coalition], Capitol Hill, Washington, D.C., June 20, 2016.
  
• "Progressive Teaching: Infusing Difficult Conversations in Intellectual Property Classes," MOSAIC IP Conference, Marquette Law School, March 19, 2016.
  
• "Copyright and Creators: 2026" (On the Future of Copyright Law), South by Southwest Interactive Festival, Austin, TX, March 11, 2016.
  
• "2015 Copyright Year in Review: New Cases and Future Predictions in an Ever-Changing Legal Landscape," Beverly Hills Bar Association, February 26, 2016.
  
• "Legal Uncertainty and Eternal Life," How Long?: Copyright Duration in the 21st Century, University of Tulsa Law School, Oct. 30, 2015.
  
• "Fandom is My Fandom: or, We All Live in a Coffee Shop AU," San Diego Comic Con, July 9, 2015.
  
• "2014 Copyright Law Year in Review: New Trends and Predictions for the Future," Beverly Hills Bar Association, February 19, 2015.
  
• "Creativity Without Law: Parallels and Future Research," Creativity Without Law, Case Western Reserve Law School, November 7, 2014.
  
• "Fans, Love, and the Law," San Diego Comic Con, July 26, 2014.
  
• "2013 Copyright Law Year in Review: New Trends and Predictions for the Future," Beverly Hills Bar Association, March 28, 2014.
  
• "Digital Media in the Age of the Cloud," UCLA Luskin Center for Innovation, December 3, 2013.
  
• "Gamer or Game Developer? The Law of Video Game Transformation," California State Bar 2013 IP in Entertainment & Media Conference, June 27, 2013.
  
• "Complex Litigation Involving Multiple Parties," moderator, 2013 Federal Circuit Bar Association/Federal Bar Association Advanced Complex Litigation Series, Whittier Law School, April 30, 2013.
  
• "2012 Copyright Year in Review: New Trends and Predictions for the Future," Beverly Hills Bar Association, February 26, 2013.
  
• "Trademark Trial and Appeal Board Year in Review," Los Angeles Intellectual Property Law Association's Washington in the West 2013, January 29, 2013.
  
• Response to "Confusion Isn't Everything: Limiting Doctrines in Trademark Law" by Mark McKenna and Bill McGeveran, Southern California IP Professors' and UCLA Entertainment, Media, and Intellectual Property Colloquium Workshop, November 4, 2012.
  
• "Sherlock Holmes Adaptation and Intellectual Property Law," Sherlock Holmes: Behind the Canonical Screen, UCLA School of Film and Television, September 1, 2012.
  
• "Copyright Law Year in Review," Los Angeles Intellectual Property Law Association Spring Seminar, June 12, 2012.
  
• "Patent Ethics: A Retrospective of Recent Patent Cases," Patent Litigation Briefing, Jeffer, Mangels, Butler & Mitchell, Irvine, CA, January 25, 2012.
  
• "Past is Prologue: How Copyright Developments in 2011 Will Shape the Issues We Face in 2012," March 26, 2012.
  
• "Copyright and Media Law Year in Review," Los Angeles Copyright Society, December 14, 2011.
  
• "IP's Negative Space: Beyond the Utilitarian," Southern California Junior Law Faculty Workshop, October 22, 2011; Intellectual Property Scholars Conference, DePaul University Law School, August 11, 2011.
  
• "A Theory of IP's Negative Space," Whittier Law School Intellectual Property Colloquium, November 4, 2011.
  
• "Toward a Unified Theory of IP's Negative Space", Southern California Junior Law Faculty Workshop, October 16, 2010.
  
• "Trademark Law for Engineers: The Two-Hour Crash Course", University of Southern California, April 29, 2010.
  
• Response to "Intellectual Property as a Law of Organization" by Jonathan Barnett, Southern California IP Professors' and UCLA Entertainment, Media, and Intellectual Property Colloquium Workshop, November 8, 2009.
  
• "Intersections between science and law regarding ethical standards of behavior," Nicholas School of the Environment and Earth Sciences, Duke University Seminar guest lecturer, December 4, 2007.

Published Works

Articles

• Copyright: Characters and Adaptation, in ELGAR ENCYCLOPEDIA OF LAW & LITERATURE (Robert Spoo & Simon Stern, eds., 2025).
  
• User-Generated Transformation: IP, Social Justice, and Fanworks, in HANDBOOK ON INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY AND SOCIAL JUSTICE 339-361 (Lateef Mtima & Steven Jamar, eds., Cambridge University Press, 2024).
  
• Fanmarks, in RESEARCH HANDBOOK ON THE LAW & ECONOMICS OF TRADEMARKS 248-279 (Glynn Lunney, ed., Edward Elgar, 2023).
  
• Considering the Role of Fairness in Fair Use, 61 HOUS. L. REV. 261 (2023).
  
• IP Law in the Shadow of Norms, 40 Cardozo Arts Ent. L. J. 657 (2023).
  
• Social Justice and Copyright’s Excess, 6 TEX. A&M J. PROP. L. 5 (2020).
• Copyright’s One-Way Racial Appropriation Ratchet, 53 U.C. Davis L. Rev. 591 (2019)
• Fair Use as Resistance, 9 U.C. Irvine L. Rev. 377 (2019)
• Who Will Speak for The Slender Man?: Dialogism and Dilemmas in Character Copyright, 70 Fla. L. Rev. Forum 69 (2019)
• Belonging as Intellectual Creation, 82 Missouri L. Rev. 91 (2017)
• Betsy Rosenblatt and Rebecca Tushnet, Transformative Works: Young Women's Voices on Fandom and Fair Use, in EGIRLS, ECITIZENS, 385 (Jane Bailey & Valerie Steeves, eds., 2015)
• The Adventure of the Shrinking Public Domain, 86 Colo. L. Rev. 561 (2015).
• A "Pretty Little Intellectual [Property] Problem:" Understanding the "Free Sherlock" Ruling, 64:1 The Baker Street Journal 28 (Spring 2014).
• Fear and Loathing: Shame, Shaming and Intellectual Property, 63 DePaul L. R. 1 (2014).
• Intellectual Property's Negative Space: Beyond the Utilitarian, 40 Florida State Law Rev. 441 (Spring 2013)
• A Theory of IP's Negative Space, Columbia Journal of Law & The Arts, Vol. 34, No. 3, 2011.
• Rethinking the Parameters of Trademark Use in Entertainment, 61 FLORIDA L.R. 1011 (Dec. 2009).

Other Affiliations

• Organization for Transformative Works Legal Committee (Member, 2010-present; Legal Chair, 2012-present)
• Comic Book Legal Defense Fund, Advisory Chair for Outreach and Education (2010-present)
• Los Angeles Copyright Society (Member, 2004-present; Member, Board of Trustees, 2006-2008)
• Lambda Legal Los Angeles Leadership Committee (Member, 2005-2014)
• Admitted to practice in California State Courts, U.S. District Court for the Central District of California, U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California; and U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit