Online Content At Arm’s Length – Consumers In Torrent Platforms In Bulgaria
Online Content At Arm’s Length – Consumers In Torrent Platforms In Bulgaria

Summary/Abstract: In the light of the European attempt to create a digital single market for online content, Bulgarians continue to use torrent platforms to access and download cultural content without any legal and economic consequences. The proposed paper attempts to answer the question whether the so called ‘copyright wars’ between big economics entities in content industries and pirate platforms appear to finish in favour of marginal consumers or those who prefer to share and download online cultural content freely through peer-to-peer techniques. The paper focuses on the realities in Bulgarian society concerning the unregulated and illegal access to online content in vast quantities and the lack of adequate response from the national authorities for restoring the power balance and protecting the authors. In order to explore the contemporary situation, firstly, the paper will examine the changes in legislation and public debate on copyright and online access to cultural content in Bulgaria. Secondly, the nature of the most popular torrent websites will be critically viewed. The online research is supplemented by empirical data, gained by questionnaires, in which are investigated the motives and reasons of ordinary consumers to access and download digitally stored cultural content from torrent websites. In the conclusion, the collected materials and data will be analysed and I will outline the main challenges in the field of copyright protection of online content.

• Details
• Contents