TERMS OF USE

KinoCritic – kinocriticblog.com · Effective date: October 17, 2026 · Last updated: October 17, 2026

1. About these Terms

These Terms of Use (the “Terms”) govern your use of kinocriticblog.com (the “Website”), an independent film criticism blog operated by Kristina Georgieva, Sofia, Bulgaria (“KinoCritic”, “we”, “us”). Contact details are in our Legal Notice. By accessing the Website, creating an account, posting content or submitting a film, you agree to these Terms. If you do not agree, please do not use the Website.

These Terms apply together with our Privacy Policy and Cookie Policy.

2. What the Website offers

The Website provides film reviews, essays and other posts; a film and people database; a members’ forum with profiles, points and badges; a newsletter; information about the KinoCritic Monthly Picks and how filmmakers can submit films; and links to our social media, to Letterboxd and to ways of supporting us. Reading the Website is free. We may change, suspend or discontinue any feature at any time, and we will try to give notice of significant changes.

3. Editorial independence and opinions

Reviews and posts express the personal opinions of the author. They are opinions and critical commentary, not statements of fact or professional advice. Film information in articles and in the database is gathered in good faith, but may contain errors; if you spot one, please tell us.

Paid entries do not buy coverage or a positive review. Where a film is submitted to the Monthly Picks through FilmFreeway, the entry fee is charged by FilmFreeway for the submission to the competition. Selection and judging are made entirely at KinoCritic’s discretion, and a winner receives a review written in KinoCritic’s own independent opinion. KinoCritic does not accept payment in exchange for a particular verdict. Where a review results from a partnership, a gift of access, or any other material connection, we will say so in the article.

4. Your account

You must be at least 16 years old to register.
You must provide accurate information and keep your password confidential. You are responsible for activity under your account. Tell us promptly if you suspect unauthorised use.
One person may hold one account. Accounts may not be sold or transferred.
You can close your account at any time by emailing us. We may suspend or close an account that breaches these Terms, as explained in Section 11.

Creating an account is a separate choice from subscribing to the newsletter, and you can unsubscribe at any time.

5. Rules for forum, comments and other user content

“User Content” means anything you post or send to the Website, including forum posts, messages, comments, profile information, film recommendations, project pitches, crowdfunding links, and database suggestions.

You agree not to post content that:

is illegal, or promotes or incites illegal acts, violence or hatred against a person or group;
is defamatory, harassing, threatening, discriminatory or abusive, or invades someone’s privacy (for example, by publishing private contact details or someone’s private life);
contains nudity or sexual content, or exploits or endangers minors in any way;
infringes copyright, trademarks or other rights, including pirated copies of films or links to them;
contains malware, or is spam, misleading advertising, or a scam;
impersonates another person or organisation, or misrepresents your relationship with a film or project;
discloses significant plot twists without a spoiler warning, in discussions where this would normally be expected.

Promotion. Members may pitch their own projects and share crowdfunding campaigns in the areas of the forum where this is allowed. Do not post repetitive or off-topic promotion. KinoCritic does not verify or endorse any such campaign and is not responsible for it.

Be respectful. Criticising a film or an argument is welcome; attacking a person is not.

6. Your rights in User Content and the licence you give us

You keep ownership of your User Content. By posting it, you give KinoCritic a free, non-exclusive, worldwide licence to host, store, display, reproduce and publish it on the Website and in connection with operating, moderating and promoting the Website (for example, by showing a forum thread on the Website), for as long as the content is on the Website. This licence does not allow us to sell your content. It ends when you delete your content or your account, except for copies in backups for a short period and except for posts that others have quoted or replied to, which may remain in anonymised form.

You confirm that you have the right to post your User Content and that doing so does not infringe anyone’s rights or any law. You are responsible for what you post.

KinoCritic does not actively monitor all User Content. We may review, edit, hide or remove any content that we consider to breach these Terms or the law, as explained in Section 11.

7. Film submissions and the Monthly Picks

This section applies to filmmakers, producers, distributors and others who submit films or material to KinoCritic. The submission page on the Website describes the current categories, eligibility, entry requirements, judging and publication schedule, and forms part of these Terms.

How to submit. Submissions for coverage are accepted only through the channels described on the submission page: the Monthly Picks on FilmFreeway, CriticBridge, other partnership programs, or KinoCritic’s own outreach. Coverage cannot be requested in any other way, and there is no separate free-review track.
Fees and refunds. Entry fees, payment, and refunds are handled by FilmFreeway under its own terms. KinoCritic does not take payment on the Website for submissions.
No guarantee. Submission does not guarantee a review, a win, or any particular result. Decisions of KinoCritic are final. KinoCritic may add a “Special Mention” category and may include films outside the competition, as described on the submission page.
Your confirmations. By submitting, you confirm that you own or control the rights in the film and in all stills, trailers, posters and other materials you provide; that you may grant the licence below; that the information you give is accurate; and that the people named in your credits are aware of the submission.
Licence. You give KinoCritic a free, non-exclusive, worldwide licence to use the stills, posters, trailers, titles, credits, names and handles you provide, and short excerpts of the film, for the purposes of reviewing, announcing and promoting the film and KinoCritic’s Monthly Picks, on the Website, in the database, on Instagram, on Letterboxd and in other KinoCritic channels. You may ask us to stop future promotional use, and we will remove the material from our channels within a reasonable time, though we cannot remove copies already shared by third parties.
Screeners. If you give us access to a private screener, we will use it only to watch and review the film and will not share it or make copies, except as the law permits.
Timing. Publication dates are chosen by KinoCritic and may be delayed for unforeseen reasons, without affecting a film’s winning status.

8. Intellectual property

Our content. The articles, text, design, logo and other original content of the Website are protected by copyright and belong to Kristina Georgieva or are used with permission. All rights reserved. You may read, share links to, and quote short excerpts of our articles with a clear credit and a link back, as copyright law permits. You may not copy, republish, scrape or use our content commercially without our written permission. Text and data mining for purposes beyond what the law allows is reserved.

Third-party material. Film titles, posters, stills, trailer images, quotes and names belong to their respective owners. They appear on the Website for the purposes of criticism, review and reporting, or with the permission of the filmmaker, and in accordance with the quotation and review exceptions of copyright law. Their appearance does not imply any endorsement by or partnership with the owners.

Rights holders. If you believe material on the Website infringes your rights, please follow the notice procedure in Section 10.

9. Support, tips and crowdfunding

The Website is free to read. If you wish, you may support us through the Tips Jar or the crowdfunding page for the student short film Hiraeth. These contributions are voluntary gifts made through Revolut, they do not buy any product, service, membership or special influence, and, except where mandatory law provides otherwise, they are not refundable. Contributions are not charitable donations and are not tax-deductible. If you ask us to credit you in the film and give us a name for the credits, we will do our reasonable best to credit you but cannot guarantee that the film will be completed, released or that a credit will survive final editing. Revolut’s terms apply to the payment itself.

10. Reporting illegal content and notice-and-action (EU Digital Services Act)

This section follows Regulation (EU) 2022/2065 (the Digital Services Act).

Point of contact. Users, authorities and the European Commission can contact us about any matter relating to the Website at kino.critic.blog@gmail.com, in English or Bulgarian.

How to report content you consider illegal. Send an email to the address above with the subject “Notice of illegal content”, including:

an explanation of why you think the content is illegal;
the exact URL(s) of the content, and any other information that helps us find it;
your name and email address (not needed for reports about child sexual abuse material or similar offences);
a statement that you believe in good faith that the information in your notice is accurate and complete.

We will confirm receipt without undue delay, review the notice diligently and objectively, and tell you our decision and the options for challenging it.

Our decisions. If we remove or restrict content, or suspend or close an account because of illegal content or a breach of these Terms, we will tell the affected person without undue delay, give a clear statement of reasons (what was done, why, on what legal or contractual ground, and how to challenge it), unless the law prevents us from doing so.

Complaints. If you disagree with a decision we have taken, reply to the message or write to us within six months. A human will reconsider it and answer you without undue delay. This does not affect your right to go to court or to use an out-of-court dispute settlement body certified under the Digital Services Act.

Copyright complaints. Copyright notices follow the same procedure. Please identify the work, show that you are the rights holder or authorised to act for them, and identify where the infringing material appears.

Abuse. We may stop handling notices or complaints from a person who frequently submits manifestly unfounded ones, after a warning.

11. Moderation, suspension and termination

We may remove or restrict any content, and warn, suspend or close an account, if we reasonably believe that content or conduct breaches these Terms, infringes someone’s rights, is illegal, or harms the Website or its users. Where appropriate, we will warn you first. We may close an account immediately in serious cases. We will explain our decision as set out in Section 10. You may stop using the Website at any time.

12. Links to other websites

The Website links to third-party sites and services, such as Instagram, Letterboxd, FilmFreeway, CriticBridge, and Revolut. We do not control them and are not responsible for their content or practices. Their own terms and privacy policies apply.

13. Availability and disclaimer

We do our best to keep the Website secure and available, but we provide it “as is” and “as available”. We do not promise uninterrupted access or that it will be error-free. Nothing on the Website is legal, financial, or professional advice.

14. Limitation of liability

To the extent the law allows, KinoCritic is not liable for indirect or consequential losses, loss of profit, or loss of data resulting from your use of the Website or from User Content posted by others. Nothing in these Terms limits or excludes liability for intent or gross negligence, for death or personal injury, or for anything else that cannot be limited under mandatory law, including your rights as a consumer.

15. Changes to these Terms

We may update these Terms, for example when the Website, our services or the law change. We will publish the new version with a new “Last updated” date and, for material changes, notify registered members by email or by a notice on the Website, giving a reasonable period of time before the changes apply. Using the Website after that date means you accept the updated Terms. If you do not accept them, you may close your account.

16. Governing law and disputes

These Terms are governed by the law of the Republic of Bulgaria. If you are a consumer residing in the EU, you also keep the protection of the mandatory consumer protection rules of the country where you live, and you may bring proceedings in the courts of that country. For other users, the competent courts are those of Sofia, Bulgaria, unless mandatory law provides otherwise. Before going to court, please contact us so that we can try to resolve the matter amicably. Consumers may also contact Bulgaria’s Commission for Consumer Protection (Комисия за защита на потребителите) or an alternative dispute resolution body.

17. General

If any part of these Terms is found to be invalid, the rest remains in force. Our failure to enforce a provision is not a waiver of it. These Terms, together with the documents they refer to, are the whole agreement between you and KinoCritic about the Website. You may not transfer your rights under these Terms to another person without our consent.

18. Contact

KinoCritic, Kristina Georgieva Sofia, Bulgaria Email: kino.critic.blog@gmail.com