Joseph P. Liu is an American legal scholar working as a professor at the

Boston College Law School Boston College Law School (BC Law) is the law school of Boston College, a private Jesuit research university in Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts. It is situated on a campus in Newton, Massachusetts, about from the university's main campus in Chestn ...

. He has published a number of papers and articles on the subjects of

intellectual property law Intellectual property (IP) is a category of property that includes intangible creations of the human intellect. There are many types of intellectual property, and some countries recognize more than others. The best-known types are patents, ...

, law and the

internet The Internet (or internet) is the Global network, global system of interconnected computer networks that uses the Internet protocol suite (TCP/IP) to communicate between networks and devices. It is a internetworking, network of networks ...

, and internet regulation.

Early life and education

Liu was born in

Seattle Seattle ( ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Washington and in the Pacific Northwest region of North America. With a population of 780,995 in 2024, it is the 18th-most populous city in the United States. The city is the cou ...

Washington Washington most commonly refers to: * George Washington (1732–1799), the first president of the United States * Washington (state), a state in the Pacific Northwest of the United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A ...

. In 1989, he received his Bachelor of Arts degree in physics and philosophy from

Yale University Yale University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701, Yale is the List of Colonial Colleges, third-oldest institution of higher education in the United Stat ...

. In 1994, he earned a

Juris Doctor A Juris Doctor, Doctor of Jurisprudence, or Doctor of Law (JD) is a graduate-entry professional degree that primarily prepares individuals to practice law. In the United States and the Philippines, it is the only qualifying law degree. Other j ...

from the

Columbia Law School Columbia Law School (CLS) is the Law school in the United States, law school of Columbia University, a Private university, private Ivy League university in New York City. The school was founded in 1858 as the Columbia College Law School. The un ...

, where he was editor-in-chief of the ''

Columbia Law Review The ''Columbia Law Review'' is a law review edited and published by students at Columbia Law School. The journal publishes scholarly articles, essays, and student notes. It was established in 1901 by Joseph E. Corrigan and John M. Woolsey, who s ...

''.

Career

After law school, Liu worked as

clerk A clerk is a white-collar worker who conducts record keeping as well as general office tasks, or a worker who performs similar sales-related tasks in a retail environment. The responsibilities of clerical workers commonly include Records managem ...

for Judge Levin H. Campbell of the

United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit The United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit (in case citations, 1st Cir.) is a federal court with appellate jurisdiction over the district courts in the following districts: * District of Maine * District of Massachusetts ...

. He then worked as a

litigator A lawsuit is a proceeding by one or more parties (the plaintiff or claimant) against one or more parties (the defendant) in a civil court of law. The archaic term "suit in law" is found in only a small number of laws still in effect today. Th ...

Foley, Hoag & Eliot Foley Hoag LLP (formerly Foley, Hoag & Eliot LLP) is a law firm headquartered in Boston, with additional offices in New York City, Paris, Washington, D.C., and Denver. The firm represents public and private clients in a wide range of disputes and ...

Boston Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeas ...

Massachusetts Massachusetts ( ; ), officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders the Atlantic Ocean and the Gulf of Maine to its east, Connecticut and Rhode ...

, specializing in intellectual property litigation,

securities A security is a tradable financial asset. The term commonly refers to any form of financial instrument, but its legal definition varies by jurisdiction. In some countries and languages people commonly use the term "security" to refer to any for ...

litigation, and

white collar criminal The term "white-collar crime" refers to financially motivated, nonviolent or non-directly violent crime committed by individuals, businesses and government professionals. The crimes are believed to be committed by middle- or upper-class indivi ...

defense. In 1999, Liu was appointed assistant professor at the

University of California, Hastings College of the Law The University of California College of the Law, San Francisco (abbreviated as UC Law SF or UC Law) is a public law school in San Francisco, California, United States. It was known as the University of California, Hastings College of the Law (a ...

. He also worked as vice president and general counsel at BuyerZone, a business-to-business start-up company. He was a Climenko Teaching Fellow in the Lawyering Program at

Harvard Law School Harvard Law School (HLS) is the law school of Harvard University, a Private university, private research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1817, Harvard Law School is the oldest law school in continuous operation in the United ...

from 1997 to 1998. Liu is a professor of law at the Boston College Law School, where he writes and teaches in the areas of copyright, trademark, property, and internet law. His main area of academic research is on the impact of

digital technology Digital technology may refer to: * Application of digital electronics * Any significant piece of knowledge from information technology Information technology (IT) is a set of related fields within information and communications technology (IC ...

copyright law A copyright is a type of intellectual property that gives its owner the exclusive legal right to copy, distribute, adapt, display, and perform a creative work, usually for a limited time. The creative work may be in a literary, artistic, e ...

and markets, with a particular focus on how digital technology is changing the way individuals interact with copyrighted works.

References

External links

Liu's faculty homepage at Boston College Law School
Yale University alumni American legal scholars Educators from Seattle University of California College of the Law, San Francisco faculty Columbia Law School alumni Boston College faculty Harvard Law School fellows Living people Year of birth missing (living people) People associated with Foley Hoag {{US-legal-academic-bio-stub