Bulgarian Court Blocks BitTorrent Sites in Landmark Ruling Against Piracy

Bulgarian Association of Music Producers (BAMP), together with IFPI, the organization representing the recording industry worldwide, blocked BitTorrent sites in Bulgaria through court proceedingsher. The proceedings are against three companies that hold the distribution.

the decision issued at first instance by the Sofia City Court, Commercial Department, dated May 31, 2023. It requires three ISPs in Bulgaria to take action to suspend and block their subscribers’ access to the web pages where the online file sharing platforms ThePirateBay and Zamunda are available.

They should be blocked not only the main web pages, but also their mirror sites (proxies), including those that are not expressly stated in the judgment. This will stop the possibility of violations by the administrators of The Pirate Bay and Zamunda against music producers, members of BAMP, in their capacity as holders of related production rights.

The case was filed by BAMP in 2020, both on behalf of her members as well as on behalf of major IFPI member recording companies, the association said.

According to them, this decision will undoubtedly have a key impact on limiting piracy in our country in the future.

Thus, Bulgaria joins 20 countries in the world that already have blocked The Pirate Bay, including 13 EU countries. Zamunda, a local BitTorrent site, has so far not been blocked in other countries, as Bulgaria accounts for 80% of its traffic.

We recall that up to this point, a number of attempts have been made to be stopped the distribution of music and movies through BitTorrent sites. They have always failed.