Paul Keller

Paul Keller (1974) is co-founder and Director of Policy at Open Future and President of the COMMUNIA Association for the Public Domain. Paul has over 20 years of experience as a media activist, open policy advocate, and systems architect for improving access to knowledge and culture. Trained as a political scientist, Paul has a deep understanding of the political, social and legal implications of digital transformation.

Paul has extensive experience as a founder, board member and manager of non-profit organizations. He is well versed in EU policy making and advocacy and is a leading expert on EU copyright policy, having worked on EU copyright policy files for nearly two decades. Paul combines legal analysis with a strong understanding of technology and has a proven track record in shaping policy at the European level.

// Work history

October 2020 > now

Co-founder and Director of Policy at Open Future www.openfuture.eu

June 2019 > now

President of the COMMUNIA association for the Public Domain www.communia.eu

June 2019 > now

Research Fellow at the Institute for Information Law at the University of Amsterdam www.ivir.nl

February 2019 > October 2020

Independent consultant at publicspace.online - Consulting for various clients on copyright reform and copyright management. Continued work on the EU copyright reform file with COMMUNIA and Europeana.

November 2018 > January 2019

Senior copyright policy advisor at Kennisland www.kennisland.nl - Wrapping up work on the EU copyright reform file for Kennisland after transferring my responsibilities to a new board of directors.

June 2017 > October 2018

Director at Kennisland www.kennisland.nl - As chairman of the board of directors i am responsible for the overall strategy of Kennisland as well as its implementation. Kennisland has a team of 21 employees and undertakes activities on 5 different thematic areas.

January 2011 > May 2017

Vice-Chair at Kennisland www.kennisland.nl - My role included the responsibility for financial operations and general management. During this period Kennisland has employed on average 16 FTE and had an average annual turnover of 1.7 million Euro. Kennisland did not receive structural funding (or general operating grants) and was funded by the revenue generated through projects and other activities.

February 2012 > today

Founding member of the COMMUNIA association for the public domain www.communia-association.org - I have been one of the founders of the COMMUNIA association for the public domain. In this role i have successfully positioned COMMUNIA as one of the principal civil society stakeholders in the EU copyright reform (2014-2019). During this period i have developed and executed COMMUNIA’s the advocacy strategy, led the multinationals virtual team and maintained contacts with other stakeholders.

October 2009 > December 2013

Collecting Societies Liaison for Creative Commons www.creativecommons.org - As Collecting Societies Liaison for Creative Commons I have maintained relationships with representatives of collecting societies in Europe and other parts of the world. My activities included negotiating pilot agreements with collecting societies in the Netherlands and France and public policy efforts aimed at the European level. This has lead to concrete legislative changes that will result in more possibilities for the use of Creative Commons licenses by European collecting society members.

June 2007 > December 2010

Senior copyright policy advisor at Kennisland www.kennisland.nl

February 2003 > June 2007

Head of the Public Research program at Waag Society www.waag.org

January 2003 > March 2003:

Lecturer at the Piet Zwart Institute, for postgraduate studies and research of the Willem de Koning Academie in Rotterdam

March 2003 > May 2004:

Project coordinator for a series of workshops around the software project ‘Nine(9)’ at Imagine IC in Amsterdam Zuidoost

November 2002 > February 2003:

Producer for the Public Research program at Waag Society in Amsterdam

August 2000 > February 2003:

Freelance web designer in Amsterdam

April > July 2000:

Internship as research assistant for Ulrich Stockmann (MEP) in Bruxelles & Strasbourg

June 1993 > July 2004

(Part time) bike messenger in Hannover, Berlin, Amsterdam & New York

// Board memberships / editorial positions

December 2013 > December 2018

Board member at Creative Commons www.creativecommons.org - Creative Commons develops, supports, and stewards legal and technical infrastructure, including the Creative Commons Licenses, that maximizes digital creativity, sharing, and innovation.

June 2013 > June 2018

Advisory board member OpenGLAM www.openglam.org - The OpenGLAM Advisory Board is made up of high-profile advocates for openness within the cultural heritage sector. The role of the OpenGLAM Advisory Board is to provide guidance to the Open Knowledge Foundation’s OpenGLAM Working Group and give feedback on key strategic issues.

April 2015 > December 2018

Member of the Board of the Europeana Foundation and Member of the Management Board of the Europeana Network Association. - The Europeana Foundation is the operator of www.euroepana.eu the European Union funded digital platform for cultural heritage. The Europeana Network Association represents the interests of the Members of the Europeana network within the Europeana Foundation.

January 2013 > December 2014

Board member at DutchCulture www.dutchculture.nl - DutchCulture is a non-profit organization that supports the implementation of Dutch international cultural policy and contributes to the foreign agenda and cultural image of the Netherlands.

March 2011 > December 2012

Board member at Trans Artists www.transartists.org - As a board member for the Dutch non-profit Trans Artists which provided residency opportunities for artists around the world, I have represented the organization during a merger with two other organizations that resulted in the creation of DutchCulture (see above).

September 2005 > March 2015

Board member at iCommons Ltd. www.icommons.org - iCommons was a registered UK charity that promoted collaboration among proponents of open education, access to knowledge, free software, open access publishing and free culture communities around the world.

January 2005 > June 2007

Editorial board member of the Indo-Dutch Sarai-Waag exchange platform

March 2005 > July 2005

Member of the editorial board for the incommunicado05 conference on ‘info-development’

November 2002 > July 2003

Member of the editorial board for the 4th edition of the Next 5 Minutes tactical media festival in Amsterdam

// Education & courses

July 2004

International Copyright Law Summer Course at the Institute for Information Law of the University of Amsterdam.

September 1998 > March 2002

Studied comparative political science at the University of Amsterdam - Obtained a masters degree in political science with a thesis titled: ‘The freedom of movement of workers in the context of the Eastern engagement of the EU’

April 1995 > July 1998

Studied Social Sciences at the University of Hannover (Germany)

// Language skills

German (native), Dutch (excellent), English (excellent), French (basic)

// Other skills

High level of technical understanding and the ability to directly work with software development teams. Extensive experience in working within international networks and projects.