MUSICIAN: Harmonizing Bulgarian legislation with European standards will unlock opportunities for supporting and financing local culture

With two judgments of 8 May 2025, the European Court of Justice has condemned Bulgaria to pay 2 million euros and costs for its failure to adopt laws, regulations and administrative provisions related to the transposition of Directive (EU) 2019/789 on the exercise of copyright and related rights applicable to certain online broadcasts of broadcasting organisations and to the retransmission of television and radio programmes and of Directive (EU) 2019/790 on copyright and related rights in the Digital Single Market.

The music collective management organization MUZIKAUTOR reminds that Bulgaria remains the only EU member state that lacks an effective compensation mechanism for private copying, by the requirements of Directive 2001/29/EC.

“Bulgarian authors and creators continue to be harmed by the lack of a functioning private copying system – a legal mechanism that guarantees fair remuneration for content recorded and reproduced for personal use.

This topic will also be discussed at the round table “33 years later – the big conversation about private copying in Bulgaria”, organized by MUZIKAUTOR and the International Confederation of Societies of Composers and Authors (CISAC), which will be held on May 13 at the Vivacom Art Hall Oborishte 5 in the capital,” said MUZIKAUTOR Executive Director Ivan Dimitrov.

For the first time in Bulgaria, the Alpha Research agency conducted a nationally representative survey with the support of the International Confederation of Societies of Composers and Authors (CISAC) to outline the real scale of the problem.

The survey will provide a concrete idea of ​​the habits of Bulgarian users when copying content for personal use, as well as the losses resulting from the lack of a compensation mechanism.

Private copying allows people to legally record and reproduce music, films, books and other protected content for personal use. To ensure fairness and compensate authors for their losses from this use, a system of compensatory remuneration has been introduced in European legislation. Manufacturers and importers collect them from copying devices and media and distribute them to authors and rightholders. This achieves a balance between the right of access of users and the need for creators to receive fair remuneration for their work.

“The directives are part of the EU’s overall strategy for synchronizing legislative instruments to protect the rights of all authors in the community. The obligations of the Member States are to introduce rules regarding the use of copyright-protected objects, and the harmonization of Bulgarian legislation with European standards will unlock opportunities for supporting and financing Bulgarian culture,” added Ivan Dimitrov.