Mario Pena, the Chief Operating Officer at Safe Creative, brings his experience as a former computer technician to the forefront of his work. He is a staunch advocate for open culture and free speech, with over 20 years of expertise in copyright issues. Additionally, he has a passion for photography, design, horology, science, nature and frequently utilizes Creative Commons licenses for his works.

In his role at Safe Creative and Safe Stamper, he reports directly to the CEO and oversees daily operations. Over recent years, Mario has been instrumental in expanding Safe Creative’s user base from a handful to an impressive 400,000 creators worldwide, achieving over 5 million registrations. This growth has established Safe Creative as a leading private and online technology-based registration service.

Mario has shared his knowledge through lectures at prestigious institutions and events. He has spoken at MIT in Boston about online registries and participated in the Communia Event in Amsterdam. His frequent lectures on copyright issues and digital content-related business models include notable events like the Digital Content Distribution Workshop by the Erich Pommer Institute, the Open Video Conference in New York, the first Semantic Copyright conference, and the Conference of Independent Journalism at the Library of the European Parliament, focusing on consumer and artist needs in the digital age. Additionally, he has contributed his expertise to the Mapping the Internet EU project.

He was a featured speaker at the 2011 TEDx PlazaCibeles, focusing on education and open culture in classrooms.

Mario’s expertise has also been recognized internationally. He was invited by the government of the Republic of Korea to discuss digital online registration services and by the United States Patent and Trade Office to speak at annual events about copyright and trademark challenges.

With a background as a Public Relations professional at International Film Festivals, CEO of Zync.es, and Chief of the Research and Development department at Sync.es, Mario is an established expert in online media business. He is keenly interested in exploring new ways to create exceptions, licensing opportunities, and addressing the challenges that the digital paradigm presents to both scarcity and abundance economies.