Joseph Hopkinson (November 12, 1770 – January 15, 1842) was a United States representative from Pennsylvania and a United States district judge of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania.

Born on November 12, 1770, in Philadelphia, Province of Pennsylvania, British America, Hopkinson received an Artium Baccalaureus degree in 1786 from the University of Pennsylvania, an Artium Magister degree in 1789 from the same institution and read law in 1791, with William Rawle and James Wilson. He was admitted to the bar and entered private practice in Philadelphia and Easton, Pennsylvania from 1791 to 1814.

In 1795, Hopkinson defended the men charged with treason in their rebellion against a federal whiskey tax. In 1799, he successfully represented Dr. Benjamin Rush in a libel suit against journalist William Cobbett. He was counsel for Justice Samuel Chase in his impeachment trial before the United States Senate in 1804 and 1805.

Hopkinson was elected as a Federalist from Pennsylvania's 1st congressional district to the United States House of Representatives of the 14th United States Congress. He was reelected to the succeeding Congress and served from March 4, 1815, to March 3, 1819. He was not a candidate for reelection in 1818.

Following his departure from Congress, Hopkinson resumed private practice in Philadelphia from 1819 to 1820, in Bordentown, New Jersey from 1820 to 1823, and in Philadelphia from 1823 to 1828. He was a member of the New Jersey General Assembly from 1821 to 1822.

In 1819, Hopkinson argued several landmark constitutional cases before the United States Supreme Court, including Dartmouth College v. Woodward, Sturges v. Crowninshield and McCulloch v. Maryland. He was associated with Daniel Webster during the Dartmouth College case.

Hopkinson received a recess appointment from President John Quincy Adams on October 23, 1828, to a seat on the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania vacated by Judge Richard Peters. He was nominated to the same position by President Adams on December 11, 1828. He was confirmed by the United States Senate on February 23, 1829, and received his commission the same day. His service terminated on January 15, 1842, due to his death in Philadelphia. He was interred in the old Borden-Hopkinson Burial Ground (now Christ Church Episcopal Cemetery) in Bordentown.

Hopkinson's 1833 opinion in Wheaton v. Peters established the foundations of modern American copyright law.