Abstract

The current reform of Spain’s copyright law incorporates a new levy on universities that is related to open access to publications. It will be collected by the Spanish agency Cedro (Centro Español de Derechos Reprográficos ) and the virtual campuses of universities will be required to comply. We analyze a regulatory precedent in Spain for this legal reform, which levied a tax on potential private photocopying (for personal or “fair” use). This precedent has common features with the current reform: the levy on private copying was an appropriation of public access to print information, while the levy on universities implies the appropriation of the digital commons.

Abstract

This article reviews the elements that have facilitated greater communicative autonomy for significant contemporary social movements and organizations through new media. Taking as reference the historical diagnosis of Hans Magnus Enzensberger (1970) for an emancipatory use of social media, we analyse the process of emergence and development of a new information paradigm in the global activity of contemporary social movements. Finally, we offer a selection of common elements implemented by these movements for the promotion of open and emancipatory management of new media as a tool for social empowerment.