Sarah Mirando  |  October 16, 2012

Category: Legal News

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Live Nation Ticket Monopoly Class Action Lawsuit

By Kimberly Mirando

 

Live NationLive Nation Entertainment, formerly known as Ticketmaster, has been hit with another class action lawsuit accusing the company of abusing its ticket monopoly to gouge music fans with surcharges.

Live Nation/Ticketmaster has fought numerous class action lawsuits over the years challenging its “add-on fees,” which include everything from so-called “processing” fees to UPS shipping fees.

At least two class action settlements over Ticketmaster fees have been reached since 2011, but both were rejected for providing “virtually no benefit” to Class Members.

The new Live Nation ticket fee class action lawsuit, filed by Plaintiff Brendon Holub, hopes to finally answer the “lingering legal question” raised in all of the previous class action lawsuits: “Can monopolist Live Nation overcharge ticket buyers with add-on fees to event ticket prices rather than selling tickets using a clear and conspicuous ‘all-in’ price?”

“Plaintiff brings this case to determine once and for all if defendant’s practice of charging add-on fees is an unfair business practice and whether defendant must use ‘all-in pricing,'” the Live Nation class action lawsuit says. These add-on fees have “persisted for years and resulted in hundreds of millions of dollars in unfair transaction costs.”

The class action lawsuit accuses Live Nation of holding a monopoly on the market since it merged with Ticketmaster in 2010, including a monopoly on promoters and venues that host live shows.

Live Nation’s merger with Ticketmaster allowed it to “directly sell tickets to concerts that it promoted,” and gives it “unilateral power to raise the price of tickets in a dominant segment of the market for concert tickets,” the class action lawsuit states.

The lawsuit accuses Live Nation of breaking a promise to eliminate “unnecessary and unwanted” add-on fees in favor of all-in pricing, which allows music fans to see the total retail price before they buy tickets.

“Defendant has not made a clear, simple transaction for the consumer,” the Live Nation ticket fee class action lawsuit states. “Defendant continues use their monopoly market power to charge unfair fees and refuses to provide consumers with a clear simple transaction through implementation of ‘all in’ pricing. Due to lack of competition created by the merger defendant has been non-responsive to consumer demand and has extracted unfair overcharges in the form of add-on fees to ticket prices.”

The Live Nation class action lawsuit is seeking an injunction barring the company form charging add-on fees, and restitution under California’s unfair competition law.

The Plaintiff is represented by Grenville Pridham of Tustin, California. 

The Live Nation Ticket Fee Monopoly Class Action Lawsuit case is Brendon Holub v. Live Nation Entertainment Inc., Case No. 12-cv-08608, California Central District Court.

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Updated October 16th, 2012

 

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