site.btaMusic Rights Management Organization Probed for Possible Violation of Law and Abuse of Monopoly Position

Officers of the Commission for the Protection of Competition (CPC) and the Interior Ministry are searching offices of MusicAutor, an organization of authors and music publishers for copyright management. Announcing the search, CPC said that it will look for unfair practices in determining the royalties for music right holders, possible abuse of dominant or monopolist position on the market and making undue gains.

The probe was triggered by publications in news outlets and social media by music right holders who complained about the way MusicAutor calculates and pays royalties. 

In a statement published on the MusicAutor website, the organization said that it "assesses positively" the operation of CPC and called it "a positive message for enhancing copyright in Bulgaria". It also said, "MusicAutor sees the ongong check as an opportunity to demonstrate the transparency and direction for future development of the organization. It, however, believes that such checks need to be accompanied with more clarity about the facts and circumstances that are being checked, and proportionality of the measures."