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James Gibson

Sesquicentennial Professor of Law

Courses Taught Computer Law Contracts Copyright Intellectual Property Fundamentals International Intellectual Property Trademark

Profile

Professor James Gibson teaches and writes in the areas of intellectual property, contracts, and law and technology. He is also founder and former director of the School of Law's Intellectual Property Institute. His scholarship has appeared in the Yale Law Journal, Virginia Law Review, Georgetown Law Journal, Texas Law Review, and UCLA Law Review, among other venues. Professor Gibson is also a frequent commentator in the media and has been quoted in the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, National Law Journal, Slate, and Chronicle of Higher Education. He has been a visiting professor at the University of Virginia School of Law and is a recipient of the University of Richmond's 2007 Distinguished Educator Award.

Presentations

Presenter, "Against Reputation," SEALS Annual Conference, SEALS, Boca Raton, Florida (Aug. 2019).

Presenter, "Convergence and Conflation in Online Copyright," Fourth Annual Copyright Scholarship Roundtable, University of Pennsylvania Law School (June 2019).

Presenter, "Rights Accretion Redux," Second Annual Intellectual Property Scholarship Redux Conference, University of New Hampshire School of Law (April 2019).

Presenter, "Recent Developments in U.S. Intellectual Property Law," China University of Political Science & Law, Beijing, China (March 2019).

Presenter, "Copyright Convergence and the DMCA," Intellectual Property Scholars Conference, University of California Berkeley Law (Aug. 2018).

Presenter, "Higher Education and the DMCA," The Digital Millennium Copyright Act at 20, Texas A&M University School of Law (March 2018).

Presenter, "Does the DMCA Matter?" Intellectual Property Scholars Conference, Cardozo School of Law, New York, N.Y. (Aug. 2017).

Commentator on "Screening Functionality," Roundtable on the Scope of Intellectual Property Rights, University of Notre Dame Law School (March 2017).

Presenter, "Higher Education & the DMCA," Copyright Owners & Copyright Users: The Viability of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, University of Virginia School of Law (Nov. 2016).

Presenter, "Valuing Reputation," Intellectual Property Scholars Conference, Stanford Law School (Aug. 2016).

Presenter, "Elements and Experts in Copyright Infringement," GRIPLA Seminar, Richmond (May 2016).

Presenter, "Copyright Validity and Copyright Infringement," Workshop on Empirical Methods in Intellectual Property, U.S. Patent & Trademark Office (April 2016).

Presenter, "Relying on Reputation," Chapman Dialogue Lecture Series, Fowler School of Law (Nov. 2015).

Moderator, "Innovation in Addressing School Inequality," University of Richmond Law Review Allen Chair Symposium (Oct. 2015).

Presenter, "Trademark Law as an Agency Problem," INTA Trademark Scholarship Symposium (May 2015).

Presenter, "Capital Punishment, Human Rights, and the Market for Death Penalty Drugs," The Death Penalty in North Carolina and the U.S., Duke University Kenan Institute for Ethics (April 2015) (with Corinna Lain).

Presenter, "Copyright Incentives in the Courtroom," Works-in-Progress Intellectual Property Conference, George Washington University Law School (Feb. 2015).

Discussant, "The State of Fair Use," Boalt Hall School of Law, UC Berkeley (Dec. 2014).

Moderator, "The Law of Lethal Injection," The University of Richmond Law Review 2014 Allen Chair Symposium: Contemporary Death Penalty Issues, University of Richmond (Oct. 2014).

Presenter, "Trademark and the Problem of Agency Costs," Intellectual Property Scholars Conference, Boalt Hall School of Law, UC Berkeley (Aug. 2014).

Discussant, "The Moral and Philosophical Foundations of Property," Marshall Center Faculty Seminar, Jepson School of Leadership Studies, University of Richmond (May 2014).

Presenter, "Contracts Unwrapped," KCON9 - The Ninth Annual Conference on Contracts, St. Thomas University School of Law (Feb. 2014).

Presenter, "Copyright's Topography," 51st Annual Conference on Intellectual Property Law, Center for American and International Law's Institute for Law and Technology (Nov. 2013).

Moderator, "Social Media and Discovery," Bench-Bar Conference, Richmond Bar Association (Oct. 2013).

Presenter, "Copyright's Topography," Thomas Jefferson Intellectual Property Inn of Court (Oct. 2013).

Commentator, Junior Scholars in Intellectual Property Conference, Michigan State University College of Law (Oct. 2013).

Presenter, "Copyright's Topography," Intellectual Property Scholars Conference, Cardozo School of Law (Aug. 2013).

Organizer and Moderator, "Global Intellectual Property Enforcement," Union Internationale des Avocats/University of Richmond School of Law Conference (Sept. 2012).

Presenter, "Consumers, Contracts, and Complexity," New England Intellectual Property Colloquium, Suffolk University School of Law (Oct. 2011).

Presenter, "DMCA Notice and Takedown: The U.S. Perspective," Seminario sobre el Proyecto de Ley que Regulara los Derechos de Autor en Internet: Perspectiva Internacional de aa Proteccion al Derecho de Autor en Internet, Direccion Nacional de Derecho de Autor, Bogota, Colombia (Sept. 2011).

Presenter, "Regulating Privacy through Contract," SEALS Conference (July 2011).

Presenter, "Contracts as Product Features," Intellectual Property Colloquium, Fordham University School of Law (April 2011).

Presenter, "A Vertical View of Cyber-Contracts," Twelfth Annual Intellectual Property Symposium, University of Texas School of Law (Feb. 2011)

Presenter, "Consumer Information Costs in High-Tech Transactions," Works-in-Progress Intellectual Property Conference, Boston University School of Law (Feb. 2011).

Panelist, "The Future of Fair Use," Hybrid ©: Sustaining Culture in Copyright, University of Maryland Center for Intellectual Property 2010 Symposium (June 2010).

Presenter, "Formalities: Then, Now, Later," Copyright@300: Looking Back at the Statute of Anne and Looking Forward to Challenges of the Future, Boalt Hall School of Law, UC Berkeley (April 2010).

Presenter, "The Upside of Intellectual Property's Downside," Intellectual Property Scholars Conference, Cardozo School of Law (Aug. 2009).

Presenter, "The Upside of Intellectual Property's Downside," SEALS Conference (Aug. 2009).

Featured Speaker, "Copyright, Libraries, and the University Mission," Annual Spring Program, Virginia Chapter of the Association of College and Research Libraries (May 2009).

Commentator, "The Boundaries of Copyright and Trademark/Consumer Protection Law," Symposium on the Boundaries of Intellectual Property, William & Mary School of Law (Feb. 2009).

Presenter, "The Law of the Horse Twelve Years After," SEALS Conference (July 2008).

Conference Fellow, "Patent Failure: How Judges, Bureaucrats, and Lawyers Put Innovators at Risk," University of Georgia School of Law (March 2008).

Panelist, "Keynote Session and Panel Discussion: Campus Rights vs. Copyrights - The Entertainment Industry's Battle with Higher Education," Chronicle of Higher Education Technology Forum (Feb. 2008).

Commentator, "The New Servitudes," University of Chicago Law School Faculty Blog (Feb. 2008).

Presenter, "Unreasonable Care," University of Virginia School of Law (Jan. 2008).

Panelist, "Panel I: The Problems," Copyright Alliance Symposium on Copyright and the University, George Washington University (Dec. 2007).

Presenter, "Inadvertent Law," Washington and Lee University School of Law (Oct. 2007).

Presenter, "Reasonableness," Seton Hall School of Law (Oct. 2007).

Presenter, "Reasonableness," SEALS Conference (July 2007).

Keynote Speaker, "Intellectual Property and the University Mission," ResNet 2007 Conference, University of California at San Diego (June 2007).

Presenter, "Copyright, Colleges, and the DMCA," ResNet 2007 Conference, University of California at San Diego (June 2007).

Panelist, Response to "Utopian Visions of Copyright: Tweak, Transform, or Opt Out," (Remarks of Harvard Professor Terry Fisher), Seventh Annual Symposium on Intellectual Property: Copyright Utopia - Alternative Visions, Methods and Policies, University of Maryland Center for Intellectual Property (May 2007).

Presenter, "What If We Used IP Rights to Impede Evil Industries?" What Ifs ... and Alternative Stories in Intellectual Property and Cyberspace Law, Michigan State University School of Law (March 2007).

Presenter, "Risk Aversion and Rights Accretion in Intellectual Property Law," Eighth Annual Intellectual Property Symposium, University of Texas School of Law (Feb. 2007).

Presenter, "Privacy, Technology, and Privacy," Mid-Atlantic People of Color Legal Scholarship Conference, University of Richmond School of Law (Jan. 2007).

Panelist, "Myth & Ethics: P2P File Sharing Round III," George Mason University (Oct. 2006).

Presenter, "Fair Use in the Digital Age," Annual Meeting of Intellectual Property Section, Virginia State Bar (Oct. 2006).

Presenter, "Risk, Aversion, and Rights Accretion in Intellectual Property Law," Stanford/Berkeley Intellectual Property Scholars Conference (Aug. 2006).

Panelist, "Intellectual Property Protection for Sports Statistics," Georgetown Law Center (April 2006).

Panelist, "MGM Studios v. Grokster," Annual Meeting of Intellectual Property Section, Virginia State Bar (Oct. 2005).

Commentator (in writing) on the "Family Entertainment and Copyright Act of 2005," U.S. Sentencing Commission (Aug. 2005).

Presenter, "The Copywrongs and Copyrights of Downloading Music," 175th Anniversary Weekend, University of Richmond (April 2005).

Panelist, "First Reflections on MGM Studios v. Grokster," George Washington University Law School (March 2005).

Moderator, "Creativity in the Information Age," University of Richmond School of Law (Feb. 2005).

Presenter, "Once and Future Copyright," Faculty Workshop, University of Richmond School of Law (Feb. 2005).

Panelist, "Digital Millennium Copyright Act Forum," Thomas Hall, University of Richmond (Nov. 2004).

Presenter, "Intellectual Property Law," Oliver Hill-Samuel Tucker Pre-Law Institute, Virginia State Bar (July 2004).

Presenter, "Technology and Law," Governor's School, University of Richmond School of Law (July 2004).

Panelist, "File-Sharing Forum," President's College Associate Program, University of Richmond (Sept. 2003).

Bar Admissions

Virginia

District of Columbia

U.S. Supreme Court, the U.S. Courts of Appeals for the Fourth, Sixth, and District of Columbia Circuits, and various U.S. District Courts

Professional Experience

Sesquicentennial Professor of Law (2019-Present)