Live Nation embroiled in secondary ticketing scandal in Italy

Live Nation has become embroiled in a ticketing scandal in Italy, after the promoter admitted directly providing tickets to the resale website Viagogo. An undercover report on the TV show Le Iene, which featured an anonymous employee who explained how tickets made their way onto such sites, prompted MD of Live Nation Italy, Roberto De Luca, to make the admission that the company carried on the practice, with De Luca saying ""I want to be clear that, to your question if Live Nation issued tickets on secondary sites and I answered no… in fact we issue some tickets. A very limited number of tickets on other sites, in this case [on] Viagogo" 

Italy’s culture minister, Dario Franceschini, has now tabled an amendment to the 2017 Budget legislation which, if passed, would provide for fines of €30,000–€180,000 for the sale of tickets by anyone but the event’s promoter or authorised resellers. Franceschini called touting an “intolerable phenomenon”, and said “recent events show that self-regulation” – such as that advocated by Prof Waterson in the UK – “is not enough: we need legislative action.” The Italian promoters’ association Assomusica supported the move saying “Our association has always been at the forefront of [putting an end to] touts making money from spoiling cultural events, which promote art and socialisation.” Live Nation have withdrawn from membership of Assomusica.

http://www.billboard.com/biz/articles/news/digital-and-mobile/7573662/live-nation-embroiled-in-italian-secondary-ticketing

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-37985565

http://www.iq-mag.net/2016/11/italian-ticket-touts-fines-180-000-euros/#.WCr8FvmLSM9

Adele fights back against the ticket touts

Last week Sir Elton John branded ticket resale websites “disgraceful” for selling tickets to his gigs at inflated prices, joining other big name such as Mumford & Sons, Prince and Coldplay, who have all recently attacked the resale “rip-off”. Adele is now taking much publicised action to fight off the touts on her latest dates. The Observer has also revealed that Justin Bieber fans wanting tickets for his October 2016 London O2 dates are being asked on Get Me In to hand over as much as £1,825 for seats with a face value of just £50. That figure includes a £285 cut taken by Get Me In.

The Observer has monitored the main sites in the UK (Seatwave, Viagogo, Get Me In and StubHub) and has found all four carry listings that appeared to be in breach of the Consumer Rights Act 2015, which requires anyone who resells an event ticket via a secondary market website to provide details of the seat row and number, as well as the face value and information about any restrictions amid fresh claims that many sites are flouting the law and supporting “industrial-scale touting”.  A spokesman for Viagogo told the Observer: “We make the sellers’ obligations regarding the listing of certain ticket information very clear at several points on our website. However it is possible that the seller doesn’t always have confirmation of the row and seat number at the time of listing.” Ticketmaster, which owns Get Me In and Seatwave, said the sites “work with those selling tickets on our sites to ensure that they understand their obligations to comply with their legal duties, including the requirement to list all available ticket details”. It added: “However, we are also concerned that some sellers may not list all the information, for fear of potential cancellation or blacklisting by event organisers.”

MBW reported that Adele's offical policy is that “The resale of tickets will not be tolerated” and in the pre-sale tickets to the star’s 36-date 2016 European tour this has been largely successful for the 57,000 tickets sold for 14-date UK and Ireland leg of the tour by independent ticketing operator SongKick. Just over 1,000 of these tickets had been listed for re-sale on sites such as Stubhub, Viagogo, GetMeIn! and Seatwave – so approximately 1.9% of the ‘first wave’ of Adele tickets ended up on secondary ticketing sites – much lower than the  average arena gig which sees closer to 20% on er-sale sites. Adele's management inisted on pre-registration and also monitored sales for suspicious activity from some 18,000 'likely or known touts'. Adele’s manager, Jonathan Dickins at September, told MBW “Until a law is passed in the UK that outlaws ticket resale profiteering you cannot stop it completely”. In the USA Adele went with a ticketless method for her now sold out North American tour, which means that fans who did manage to purchase tickets will not receive physical tickets. Instead, they will have to present their credit card and ID when they arrive at the venue on the day of their gig, and they will then be granted entry - if it matches. However demand for tickets is enourmous:  according to Billboard, over 10 million fans went online to try and buy one of the 750,000 tickets available, with four million New Yorkers reportedly online at the same time, with fan's furious with Tickemaster's failing online system.

In the UK, Sharon Hodgson MP had said the new changes to the law “are being utterly flouted by the major platforms, and the government needs to wake up to this scandal, which is affecting people all around the country and damaging our creative industries”. The number of tickets on sale for inflated prices shows the need for tough new laws to crack down on rip-off ticket sales, said Hodgson. She spoke out after Adele fans warned they were struggling to buy tickets for the singer’s tour, the first for four years, which follows the release of her new album, 25. Hodgson is Co-chair of the all-party parliamentary group (APPG) on ticket abuse.

http://www.theguardian.com/money/2015/dec/19/ticket-resale-sites-new-scrutiny-touting-seatwave-viagogo

http://www.musicbusinessworldwide.com/team-adele-wage-war-on-ticket-touts-and-so-far-its-working/

http://www.unrealitytv.co.uk/showbiz/adele-puts-a-stop-to-ticket-touts-with-ticketless-gigs-in-us-oh-dear/

UK's anti touting law moves forwards

The UK's House Of Lords has voted to include a new clause in the Consumer Rights Bill that would force people touting tickets online to provide buyers with  extra information, a move designed to make it clearer who exactly it is reselling tickets, how big a mark-up is being added, and what the risks are to the consumer by buying tickets on the secondary market. The amendment stems from a report published by the All-Party Parliamentary Group On Ticket Abuse back in April, which hoped to speed up the prospect of some ticketing touting regulation by amending the in-development Consumer Rights Bill, rather than having to promote bespoke ticket touting legislation to government or via a private members bill. The amendment, which was approved by a small margin - 183 votes to 171 by the Lords - would oblige a ticket seller using a resale site like Viagogo, Seatwave or StubHub to reveal their identity, declare the face value of tickets they are selling, provide seat numbers and booking references associated with the ticket, and state whether the terms and conditions of the ticket being sold give the promoter the right to block entry to the event if they discover the ticket was resold. The secondary sites would also be obliged to ensure this information is given. APPG co-chair Mike Weatherley MP said: "It's been clear for a long time that this market is not working in the interest of genuine fans or the people who put in all the hard work and investment to put on live events. Anyone operating honestly has nothing to fear from these changes, but they will make a big difference for ordinary fans. It's imperative that the government doesn't try to reverse this amendment when the bill comes back to the Commons".

Tennessee’s anti scalping laws have never been used

For six years, Tennessee has had a law making it illegal to use special computer software – bots - to buy large quantities of tickets to popular concerts and sporting events. But despite the apparent prevalence of the practice, no one has been prosecuted for this hard-to-prove crime in Davidson County according to records obtained by the Tennessean from the Davidson County Criminal Court Clerk. The law made computerised scalping a class A misdemeanor punishable by $500 per ticket, or any profits made from each instance, whichever is higher. There have been no prosecutions in Nashville since the law took effect in 2008.

http://www.tennessean.com/story/money/industries/music/2014/11/09/ticket-bots-tennessee/18766315/ 

Michigan lawmaker seeks to make scalping legal

A Michigan politician says he wants to make it legal to sell sporting event or concert tickets above face value and has introduced legislation that would repeal a 1931 state law that bans ticket scalping unless it's authorised by the venue or event operators. Republican Rep. Tim Kelly of Saginaw Township said he is lining up bipartisan support for his bill. He says it's a common-sense measure that would let the free market decide the price of a ticket saying "An individual who buys a ticket to a sporting event or concert owns that ticket, and they should have every right to sell it if they so choose" adding "This legislation, quite literally, is about allowing the man on the street to sell tickets at fair market value to willing buyers. It creates more fairness while providing some relief to our already overburdened court system."

Kelly said here is no reason for the government to interfere in a transaction between a willing buyer and willing seller. The legislation now goes to a House committee for consideration. And one of Kelly's Democratic colleagues said allowing ticket re-sales is a matter of fairness. Rep. Doug Geiss of Taylor introduced a bill last term that would have limited price markups on ticket websites to up to 10 percent more than face value and also require online resellers to publish the original price of the ticket. That bill did not reah the committee hearing stage and Geiss said he now supports Kelly's proposal saying "As the law currently stands, it doesn't make sense why can I go online and charge somebody $500 for a $50 ticket, but if I sell it in front of a stadium, if I sell it for $51, I can have that ticket confiscated from me," Geiss said.

Local promoters, arenas and music and sporting venues are reviewing Kelly's scalping bill although most remain firmly opposed.

http://www.thestate.com/2013/11/03/3075766/michigan-bill-would-make-ticket.html

IOC to "investigate" 2012 Olympic tickets scandal

In a perhaps an all too predictable story, a ticketing scandal involving more than a quarter of the 204 countries represented at the Olympics looks set to hang over the London Games, after it emerged that an internal investigation is unlikely to be completed before the opening ceremony.

The International Olympic Committee has promised to investigate allegations that 27 agents representing 54 countries were prepared to offer thousands of unauthorised tickets at prices of up to £6,000 to undercover Sunday Times reporters posing as Middle Eastern buyers.

After an emergency board meeting, the IOC said it took the allegations very seriously and referred the matter to its ethics commission. "Should any irregularities be proven, the organisation will deal with those involved in an appropriate manner. The NOCs [national Olympic committees] are autonomous organisations, but if any of the cases are confirmed the IOC will not hesitate to impose the strongest sanctions," it said in a statement. Re-selling Olympic tickets is a specific summary offence in the United Kingdom, punishable by a fine of up to £20,000.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/sport/2012/jun/17/olympics-ticketing-scandal-london-games

Quebec's new law targets touts

Quebec's much discussed "Bill 25" officially went into effect Thursday, June 7th, changing the face of ticket resale within the Canadian province. Under the terms of the new law, ticket brokers will be barred from reselling tickets at prices above face value without first obtaining the permission of the ticket's original vendor. Additionally, brokers will be required to inform consumers that the tickets are being resold, provide the name of the ticket's original vendor and inform customers of the ticket's original face value price. Those found to be in violation of the new law will be subject to fines of $1,000 to $2,000 for a first offence and as much as $200,000 for repeated violations according to Ticketnews.com 

Boss Act Back

A New Jersey U.S. Representative is taking a second stab at passing national legislation that would bring transparency to online ticket sales and target the controversial use of computer technology in the purchase of concert tickets. U.S. Rep. Bill Pascrell, announced that he plans on re-introducing "The BOSS ACT," dubbing this incarnation the "2012 Tour." Pascrell previously introduced a bill by the same name in 2009, but the Bill never made it past the initial committee stage. The legislative initiative according to Pascrell, a response to the glitches that occurred in January of 2012 when Bruce Springsteen tickets went on sale for the New Jersey reminding fans and the congressman of Springsteen's 2009 concert tour, which saw fans being redirected to Ticketmaster's secondary ticketing website and sparked a lawsuit that ended with a $16.5 million settlement.

 Bruce Springsteen at Glastonbury 2009  (c) 2009 Nick Cordes / The Television Company 

Oklahoma looks at scalping again

Ticketnews.com reports that for the first time since 1981, Oklahoma City is contemplating whether to reform its anti-scalping laws. City Manager Jim Couch wants to raise the maximum price at which tickets can be resold to $20 above face value. Currently, the maximum price is $0.50 above face value. Furthermore, Couch wants to institute a 500-foot anti-scalping zone around venues to discourage reselling.

Chugg calls for new ticketing laws

Australian promoter Michael Chugg has called from new 'anti-scalping' laws after tickets for Radiohead's latest tour sold out in minutes and fans fumed over tickets at inflated prices posted on eBay. As fans took to social media to vent their frustrations, prompting Chugg Entertainment to release a statement advising against buying from unauthorised sources. Chugg says action needs to be taken on a national level, including co-operation between promoters, federal and state government and websites, to curb the ongoing issue of ticket on-selling saying "The federal government should be bringing in a blanket policy but the state governments also need to act," Chugg told AAP. But Live Performance Australia, which sets policy for the music industry, continues to oppose any moves to make scalping illegal with Suzanne Daley, Director of Policy and Programs for LPA saying "Scalping is a very difficult practice to monitor and stamp out" adding "We believe resources would be better focused on educating consumers around the risks rather than trying to prevent it via legal means." Scalping comes under commercial law which is decided at a state level. The practice is illegal only in Queensland and only after a scalper makes a profit of 20 per cent over face value.

Ticket resale laws and anti-fraud legislation in the U.S. and United Kingdom

a USEFUL UPDATE on this whole area can be found on www.ticketnews.com giving readers an reminder on both UK and US law.

Quebec passes new ticket re-sale laws

Ticketnews.com reports that the Quebec government has passed a strict new ticket resale law designed to make it more difficult for ticket brokers to resell tickets above face value. The new law, Bill 25, calls for brokers to obtain permission from a content provider, such as a sports team, concert promoter or venue, before they can resell that provider's tickets above face value.

Wiseguys escape jail

The three defendants in the $25 million Wiseguy Tickets computer hacking case escaped jail time and have received sentences of probation from a federal judge the USA. A fouth defendant, Faisal Nahdo had fled the US some time earlier. Kenneth Lowson and Kristofer Kirsch each received two years' probation and Joel Stevenson received one year. The trio pleaded guilty late last year to conspiracy to commit wire fraud and other charges for their part in the multi-million-dollar ticket scalping scheme by using sophisticated computer programmes (‘bots’) to acquire approximately 1.5 million premium event tickets

Perry looks for secondary sales

The Smoking Gun has published what seems to be Katy Perry's rider for her upcoming US tour, which along with the normal stuff on food and dressing rooms and transport has a clause that seemingly tells promoters that they may be required to hold back tickets for the Artiste to sell to fans via a ticketing agent of their choice, promoting speculation that the tickets will be aimed at the secondary market.

StubHub guilty of violating anti-scalping laws

TicketNews.com report that StubHub has been found to be in violation of North Carolina's former anti-scalping laws for its part in the 2007 sale of high-priced Hannah Montana tickets by a reseller on the company's exchange Judge Ben Tennille ruled that StubHub and Massachusetts reseller Jason Holohan violated the laws when Holohan sold four Hannah Montana tickets to parents Jeffrey and Lisa Hill for a total of $596, plus $59.60 in service fees and $11.95 in shipping costs