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Mass inspections in the Black Sea region show that most of the hotels and restaurants lack the documents needed to make use of music and video clips, factor-bg.com reported.
Representatives of hotels and restaurants said they were against the payment of copyright taxes. Culture Ministry organized the inspections, targeting the illegal use of music and some owners were fined.
Bulgarian Hotel and Restaurant Association (BHRA) discussed the issue a week ago. Sunny Beach owners union Elena Ivanova said it was troublesome that only few organizations held copyright and the state was using the fact to blackmail owners.
The Culture Ministry's copyrights committee started inspecting hotels and restaurants during the autumn of 2007. Its head Georgi Damyanov met tourism sector representatives to discuss the new regulations. According to Blagoi Ragin, chairperson of one of the biggest tourism organizations in the country, owners might be more willing to hire lawyers than to pay copyright taxes.
Taxes depend on the hotel or restaurant category. A two-star restaurant in Sofia has to pay annual tax of seven leva per person, depending on its capacity. Hotels owe between one and five leva per bed. The highest tax is 12 leva per person and applies for restaurants and bars having five stars.
Representatives of hotels and restaurants said they were against the payment of copyright taxes. Culture Ministry organized the inspections, targeting the illegal use of music and some owners were fined.
Bulgarian Hotel and Restaurant Association (BHRA) discussed the issue a week ago. Sunny Beach owners union Elena Ivanova said it was troublesome that only few organizations held copyright and the state was using the fact to blackmail owners.
The Culture Ministry's copyrights committee started inspecting hotels and restaurants during the autumn of 2007. Its head Georgi Damyanov met tourism sector representatives to discuss the new regulations. According to Blagoi Ragin, chairperson of one of the biggest tourism organizations in the country, owners might be more willing to hire lawyers than to pay copyright taxes.
Taxes depend on the hotel or restaurant category. A two-star restaurant in Sofia has to pay annual tax of seven leva per person, depending on its capacity. Hotels owe between one and five leva per bed. The highest tax is 12 leva per person and applies for restaurants and bars having five stars.
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Hotel and restaurant owners in Bulgaria against copyright taxes