Chapter One
MEDIA SERVICES AND VIDEO-SHARING PLATFORM SERVICES
(Heading amended, SG No. 109/2020, effective 22.12.2020)
Section I
General Provisions
(New heading, SG No. 109/2020, effective 22.12.2020)
Article 1. (Amended, SG No. 12/2010, SG No. 109/2020, effective 22.12.2020) This Act shall
regulate:
1. the media services provided by media service providers under the jurisdiction of the Republic of
Bulgaria.
2. video-sharing platform services provided by video-sharing platform service providers under the
jurisdiction of the Republic of Bulgaria, to the extent that such services fall within the fields coordinated
by Directive 2010/13/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 10 March 2010 on the
coordination of certain provisions laid down by law, regulation or administrative action in Member
States concerning the provision of audiovisual media services (Audiovisual Media Services Directive)
(OJ L 95/1 of 15 April 2010), as amended by Directive (EU) 2018/1808 of the European Parliament and
of the Council of 14 November 2018 amending Directive 2010/13/EU on the coordination of certain
provisions laid down by law, regulation or administrative action in Member States concerning the
provision of audiovisual media services (Audiovisual Media Services Directive) in view of changing
market realities (OJ L 303/69 of 28 November 2018), hereinafter referred to as "Directive 2010/13/EU,
as amended by Directive (EU) 2018/1808".
Article 2. (Amended, SG No. 12/2010) (1) Within the meaning given by this Act, media services
shall be audiovisual media services and radio services.
(2) "Audiovisual media service/radio service" shall be:
1. (amended, SG No. 109/2020, effective 22.12.2020) a service as defined by Articles 56 and 57 of the
Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union, where the principal purpose of the service or a
dissociable section thereof is devoted to providing audiovisual programmes/radio programmes, under
the editorial responsibility of a media service provider, to the general public, in order to inform,
entertain or educate, by means of electronic communications networks within the meaning given by the
Electronic Communications Act;
2. an audiovisual commercial communication/commercial communication in a radio service referred to
in Item 1.
(3) (Amended, SG No. 109/2020, effective 22.12.2020) Audiovisual programme shall be a set of
moving images with or without sound constituting an individual item, irrespective of its length, within a
schedule or a catalogue established by a media service provider, including feature-length films, video
clips, sports events, situation comedies, documentaries, children's programmes and original drama.
(4) (Amended, SG No. 109/2020, effective 22.12.2020) Radio programme shall be an individual item,
irrespective of its length, within a schedule or a catalogue established by a radio service provider.
(5) The provisions of this Act shall not apply to:
1. media services which are not for mass communication, i.e. are not intended for a substantial
proportion of the public;
2. (amended, SG No. 109/2020, effective 22.12.2020) primarily non-economic activities, such as the
provision of audiovisual content on private websites and non-commercial communities of interest and
which are not in competition with linear and non-linear media services;
3. private correspondence sent to a limited number of recipients by means of electronic communications
networks;
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