Bulgaria

[BG] Act concerning the Film Industry Has Come into Effect

IRIS 2004-1:1/46

Rainer Großhans

Institute of European Media Law (EMR), Saarbrücken/Brussels

In Bulgaria, the Act concerning the Film Industry came into effect on 5 December 2003. The act, which had been passed by the parliament on 19 November 2003, for the first time lays specific legal foundations for the film industry for the first time.

As far as its substance is concerned, it governs the legal relationships arising in the production, distribution and showing of films, as well as state funding for films (Art. 1 of the act). As defined in this act, the film industry comprises the production, distribution, promotion, showing and archiving of films (Art. 2 Paragraph 1). The Bulgarian National Film Centre, a cultural institute run by the state, has been entrusted with this task. Articles 3 and 4 enumerate the objectives in the context of the promotion of films such as assistance for young talent , as well as the protection of viewers, the marketing of Bulgarian films abroad, the guaranteeing of freedom for authors, their equality vis-à-vis the film organisations and copyright protection.

The act is divided into seven chapters which, in addition to General Provisions (Art. 1 to 4), contain clauses concerning the National Film Centre (Arts. 5 to 15), the financing of films (Arts. 16 to 19), the registration obligation (Arts. 19 to 25), state assistance for the film industry (Arts. 26 to 35) and the distribution and showing of films and information reports (Arts. 36 to 45), as well as legal definitions (Art 1), transition and concluding provisions (Arts 2-6) and the procedural rules of administrative penal law (Arts. 46-51).