In focus in Bulgarian legislation
Law on supplement of the Law on copyright and related rights (SG 14 as of 20.2.2015)
Orphan works and sound records have been introduced in the Law on the copyright and related rights. These are works in which the rightholder is not identified or, if identified, he/ she is not located.
The legislative initiative has been undertaken in response to the requirement to transpose the provisions of Directive 2012/28/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 25 October 2012 on certain permitted uses of orphan works in the Bulgarian legislation.
The new regulation includes rules on the procedure for diligent search of orphan works and sound records, the mutual recognition of their status in respect to Member States, the termination of their status and their use.
The main purpose of the new section is to facilitate the digitization and distribution of such works in the publicly available institutions such as libraries and schools.
Draft Law on protection of over-indebted individuals
The economic situation in Bulgaria and the backwardness of our legislature compared to the current international trends for extension of the bankruptcy proceedings against non-trading individuals, led to the re-opening of the debate on the need to adopt Law on protection of over-indebted individuals.
The draft law has been submitted in the National Assembly aiming to create an effective protection for debtors – individuals, allowing them to get a second chance.
The protection provides a procedure by which the bona fide bankrupt citizens can settle their obligations within a maximum of three years, where under certain conditions there is even a possibility for debt relief.
Interpretative decision 5 of 22.12.2014
By Interpretative decision 5 as of 22 December 2014, the criminal chamber of the Supreme Cassation Court holds that the manager, respectively the chairman of a company or cooperative should be criminally liable, if within 30 days of the suspension of payments does not request the court to start insolvency proceedings. For the implementation of such obligation, it is not necessary to have an explicit assignment by collective management body.
News on European Union Law
With the EU Official Journal – C50 12.02.2015 with a view to adoption of Directive of the European Parliament and of the Council, amending Directive 98/70/ЕО relating to the quality of petrol and diesel fuels and to Directive 2009/28/ЕО on the promotion of the use of energy from renewable sources, the Commission proposes to start the transition to biofuels that provide significant reductions in greenhouse gas emissions when also reporting on the indirect land use change emissions estimates. The text of the Council addresses the issue of the rates for calculation of the contribution of energy from renewable sources, which is consumed by the electric multi units in the rail transport and the electric automobiles, so that to expand their use and market penetration.
Decision 2009/861/EC as of 30.11.2009 of the Commission provides for the introduction for the listed therein milk processing enterprises in Bulgaria of certain derogations from the requirements, set out in Annex III to Regulation (EC) №853/2004, which determines specific hygiene rules for food of animal origin in the enterprises for foodstuffs, including hygiene requirements for raw milk and dairy products. Certain milk processing enterprises, listed in Annex I to the Decision, can process both compliant and non-compliant milk, provided that the processing is carried out on separate product lines, and the listed in Annex II can process non-compliant milk without separate production lines. Bulgaria has sent to the Commission an amended and updated list of those enterprises.