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On 18 November 2020, Министерски съвет (the Bulgarian Council of Ministers, also referred to as the Government) adopted a decision concerning the approval of Законопроект за изменение и допълнение на Закона за филмовата индустрия (Bill to amend and supplement the Film Industry Act – FIA). The Bill envisages various incentives for the promotion of the local film industry, including a new cash rebate aid scheme for the production of audiovisual works, in accordance with Regulation (EU) No. 651/2014. The Government is also expected to propose secondary legislation following...

On 1 October, a competition advocacy decision of Комисия за защита на конкуренцият (the Commission for Protection of Competition - CPC), namely Decision No. АКТ-788-01.10.2020 of the CPC on bills for amendment and supplement to the Закон зо ридио телевизията (the Radio and Television Act - RTA), found that two bills would restrict competition on the media market. To issue its decision, the CPC relied on Article 28, paragraph 1 of Закон за защита на конкуренцията (the Competition Protection Act - CPA), which provides that the CPC shall assess the conformity of bills (and/or other acts) with...

The European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) has delivered a judgment in which it found, apart from a violation of Article 1 of the First Protocol to the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR), a breach of the applicant’s right to freedom of expression under Article 10 ECHR, due to the seizure of a server and the limitation of the functionality of a website. In this case, the applicant complained of the seizure and retention by the Bulgarian prosecution authorities of his computer server, in the context of criminal proceedings for a copyright infringement against third parties. The retention...

An amendment to the Law on the Compulsory Deposit of Printed and Other Works and the Announcement of the Distributors and Providers of Media Services was published in issue 94 of State Gazette (dated 13 November 2018). Such “distributors” and “providers” are (i) public and commercial providers of media services under the Radio and Television Act and (ii) online news service providers (electronic newspapers, magazines, news agencies and other electronic publications, excluding social networks - such as Facebook and Twitter - and personal blogs). By 30 June each year, each provider must submit to...

In June 2017, the Bulgarian Parliament initiated amendments in the Administrative Procedure Code with the aim of relieving the Supreme Administrative Court of the many cases it has to deal with. The amendments were passed in July 2018 and they affected the consolidation of proceedings, including those filed against decisions of the Council for Electronic Media (CEM). The President of the Republic of Bulgaria vetoed some of the texts of the law in August 2018. The veto was overruled by the National Assembly at the beginning of September 2018. The Act on Amendments to the Administrative Procedure...