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Bulgaria's largest music portal offers legal access to over 100,000 songs

The Bulgarian Telecommunications Company (BTC) has been awarded a special diploma for a consistent corporate policy regarding intellectual property rights by the Intellectual Property Association. The award is a recognition for the telecom company which created Bulgaria's largest portal for legal music downloads, described by the Association as a pioneering step in copyright protection in this country.

"We give awards to selected businesses in Bulgaria which respect the rule of law, have a European-style attitude to intellectual property rights and their importance to society, and stand up for the protection of these rights with good practices and a clear corporate policy," Stanislava Armutlieva, Executive Chair of the Board of the Bulgarian Association of Musical Producers (BAMP), said at the ceremony. "BTC has shown business foresight and courage by taking the first step in the right direction in the use of digital music in Bulgaria and has set an example of successful partnership between music producers and socially responsible businesses, which also benefits all users," she said at the award ceremony.

The distinction was received by Kristina Tabakova, BTC's Director of Products and Services, who directed the 4fun.bg project. "We are honoured by this distinction because it proves once again that BTC has been developing as an increasingly dynamic and modern telecom company responsible to its customers. We designed 4fun.bg to offer Bulgarian customers added value to the internet service they use. Interest in the portal shows that we are on the right track," she said.

BTC is the first company in Bulgaria to offer free legal downloads of such a rich music content. With 4fun.bg music fans can download more than 100,000 songs of all styles of music if they are customers of BTC ADSL high-speed Internet. The website's music content is a catalogue of Universal Music, the world's largest music company, and is updated with the latest hit songs and albums.

The ceremony was organized by the Intellectual Property Association to mark World Intellectual Property Day, April 27, at the Central Military Club. The new association aims to make an institution of good initiatives for copyright protection and to establish the ceremony as a symbolic public event. It also wants to show examples of successful interaction between copyright owners and their civil associations, on the one hand, and the State and businesses, on the other.

The formal event was attended by H.E. Nancy McEldowney, Ambassador of the United States, who is a staunch supporter of the creation of a normal economic environment and of a consistent, responsible policy of intellectual property rights protection in Bulgaria. Microsoft, leading media outlets and two hotels, among others, received awards.

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