Catherine Stihler OBE is the CEO of Creative Commons. She has been an international champion for openness as a legislator and practitioner for over 20 years.
Born in Scotland in 1973, Catherine was educated at the world-renowned St Andrews University, where she was awarded a Master of Arts (MA) with Honours in Geography and International Relations, and later a Master of Letters (MLitt) in International Security Studies. She also has a Master of Business Administration degree from the Open University.
After graduating she worked in the British House of Commons as a researcher before successfully standing for election as a Member of the European Parliament (MEP) for Scotland in 1999, representing the UK Labour Party. At the European Parliament in Brussels she became one of Scotland’s longest-serving and most respected legislators.
She was elected Vice-Chair of the European Parliament’s Internal Market and Consumer Protection Committee, working on digital policy where she prioritised the Digital Single Market, digital skills, better accessibility of digital products for the disabled, and citizen online data protection and privacy. She founded both the Campaign for Parliamentary Reform and the parliament’s All-Party Library Group, promoting and advocating for the importance of libraries in the new digital age.
Catherine took on a lead role in the debate on copyright in the European Union’s (EU) Digital Single Market, serving as Rapporteur for the Internal Market Committee and standing up for over 500million European citizens.
Catherine was instrumental in securing graphic health warnings on cigarette packets in 28 countries and delivered braille on pharmaceutical packaging across the EU. She played a pivotal role in ensuring the World Health Organization (WHO) recognised sudden infant death syndrome and led the first campaign in the European institutions on Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) - one of the world's biggest killers. A passionate European, she was one of the six politicians whose court case to revoke Article 50 on the UK’s departure from the European Union resulted in a ground-breaking judgement by the European Court of Justice.
While serving as an MEP, Catherine was also elected to serve as the 52nd Rector of the University of St Andrews between 2014 and 2017, and will serve as Senior Lay member on the university court from August 2020. In 2018 she was awarded an honorary doctorate from the University of St Andrews.
In 2019, Catherine was awarded the title of Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) by Her Majesty the Queen in recognition of her services to politics.
In 2019, she stood down from the European Parliament to become Chief Executive Officer of the Open Knowledge Foundation. Catherine transformed the Open Knowledge Foundation in just 18 months, redefining its vision and mission to produce a new strategic direction, reengaging its global chapters and increasing the worldwide profile of the organisation.
Catherine joined Creative Commons in 2020.
Today marks my first year anniversary at CC. It is such an honour and a privilege to lead this organization whose relevance could not be more important at this time. However, as I sit and write this reflection, I know for so many in our global community and network that our thoughts and prayers are … Read More “Reflections from my first year as Creative Commons’ CEO”
Following our recent announcement of a major grant from Arcadia to advance open access at galleries, libraries, archives, and museums (GLAMs), we’re excited to officially launch Creative Commons’ Open GLAM program. In this post, we share an overview of the program’s rationale and briefly introduce our key program areas. ——— GLAMs’ public interest mission, rooted … Read More “We’re Launching the CC Open GLAM Program”
Creative Commons is turning 20! We are delighted to be celebrating this milestone with our global community, honoring our commitment as a nonprofit to creating a world where everyone has access to knowledge and creativity. As we considered CC’s goals for the next 20 years, we kept returning to a simple idea: Better Sharing for … Read More “Announcing Our 20th Anniversary “Better Sharing” Campaign”
The news yesterday from US trade Ambassador Katherine Tait that the Biden-Harris administration supports waiving IP protections for COVID vaccines is not just welcome, it is laying a stake in the ground for others to follow. The hesitancy of both the EU and UK to support the US places them on the wrong side of … Read More “Creative Commons Calls on the EU to Show Clear Support for Waiving COVID Vaccine Patents”
Like many people on the internet, we here at Creative Commons have been thinking about NFTs, and the possibilities that unique digital assets might bring for artists and creators. (By the way, did you know that Beeple, the artist who famously sold an NFT for $69 million, has been using CC licenses for years?) Most … Read More “At the Intersection of NFTs and Creative Commons Licenses”
We are pleased to announce today that our friends at the Program on Information Justice and Intellectual Property (PIJIP) at American University Washington College of Law have taken over leadership and stewardship of the Open COVID Pledge (OCP). Last year, Creative Commons joined forces with an international group of volunteer researchers, scientists, academics, and lawyers … Read More “PIJIP at American University to Lead the Open COVID Pledge”
Creative Commons is thrilled to confirm that CC Search, the search engine we built for openly licensed content, has found a new home and will soon be joining WordPress. With its talented team and active community of open source contributors from all around the globe, WordPress is the perfect partner to help keep the project … Read More “CC Search to Join WordPress”
There is a quiet, familiar beauty found in still life, a type of art that depicts primarily inanimate objects, like animals, food, or flowers. These comforting images offer a sense of certainty and simplicity in uncertain and complex times. This could explain why over six million Instagram users have fallen in love with still life … Read More “Still Life: Art That Brings Comfort in Uncertain Times”
Until recently, I had never heard of the sea shanty “The Wellerman”. My sea shanty repertoire consisted of “What can you do with a drunken sailor” to sea-songs on the soundtrack of Master and Commander. However, Nathan Evans, a fellow Scot who hails, like me, from North Lanarkshire, has changed all of this. His rendition … Read More “The Postal Worker, a Sea Shanty and the Public Domain”
I am delighted to announce the launch of Creative Commons’ new strategy for 2021-2025. This strategy is the result of over three months of stakeholder engagement, dozens of consultations, and hundreds of conversations held among Creative Commons’ multiple collaborators, including staff, funders, the CC Board of directors, as well as a wide range of individuals … Read More “Announcing Our New Strategy: What’s Next for CC”
