[Congressional Bills 111th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 4795 Introduced in House (IH)]
111th CONGRESS
2d Session
H. R. 4795
To prohibit restrictions on the resale of event tickets sold in
interstate commerce as an unfair or deceptive act or practice.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
March 9, 2010
Mr. Matheson (for himself and Mr. Terry) introduced the following bill;
which was referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To prohibit restrictions on the resale of event tickets sold in
interstate commerce as an unfair or deceptive act or practice.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Ticket Act''.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS.
Congress finds the following:
(1) Sponsors and promoters of major music, sporting, and
theatrical events are increasingly seeking to control the
resale of tickets to such events in the secondary market, by
employing restrictive State laws, imposing and enforcing
onerous contractual or license terms, and imposing
technological barriers on ticket resale.
(2) Such restrictions and downstream controls substantially
impede interstate commerce in event tickets, drive up ticket
prices, reduce availability of tickets to interested
purchasers, narrow the choices available to the public, and are
unfair to consumers.
(3) Eliminating such restrictions and applying free market
principles to the secondary market in event tickets would
encourage a robust competitive marketplace in such tickets,
would promote the healthy growth of electronic commerce in such
tickets in online marketplaces, and would be in the best
interests of ticket purchasers, fans, and the general public.
(4) Purchasers of event tickets, whether in the primary or
secondary ticket markets, are entitled to minimum consumer
protection standards, including provisions for full refunds of
ticket purchases in appropriate circumstances.
(5) In order to achieve a nationwide free market in resale
of event tickets, Congress must act to preempt State or local
laws that unjustifiably restrict such resales, while preserving
State and local authority to legislate or regulate to prevent
fraud, maintain public order, or vindicate other legitimate
State and local interests.
SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS.
In this Act:
(1) Commission.--The term ``Commission'' means the Federal
Trade Commission.
(2) Event.--The term ``event'' means any concert,
theatrical performance, sporting event, exhibition, show, or
similar scheduled activity, taking place in a venue with a
seating or attendance capacity exceeding 1,000 persons--
(A) that is open to the general public;
(B) for which an admission fee is charged; and
(C) that is promoted, advertised, or marketed in
interstate commerce or for which event tickets are
generally sold in interstate commerce.
(3) Event ticket.--The term ``event ticket'' means any
physical, electronic, or other form of a certificate, document,
voucher, token, or other evidence indicating that the bearer,
possessor, or person entitled to possession through purchase or
otherwise has--
(A) a revocable or irrevocable right, privilege, or
license to enter an event venue or occupy a particular
seat or area in an event venue with respect to one or
more events; or
(B) an entitlement to purchase such a right,
privilege, or license with respect to one or more
future events.
(4) Person.--The term ``person'' means any natural person,
partnership, corporation, association, or other legal entity,
including any person acting under color or authority of State
law.
(5) Resale.--The term ``resale'' includes any form of
transfer, or offering to transfer, of possession or entitlement
to possession of an event ticket from one person to another,
with or without consideration, whether in person or by means of
telephone, mail, delivery service, facsimile, Internet, email,
or other electronic means. The term ``resale'' does not include
the initial sale of an event ticket by the ticket issuer.
(6) State.--The term ``State'' means any of the several
States, the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto
Rico, or any other territory or possession of the United
States.
(7) Ticket issuer.--The term ``ticket issuer'' means any
person that first makes event tickets available, directly or
indirectly, to the general public, and may include--
(A) the operator of a venue;
(B) the sponsor or promoter of an event;
(C) a sports team participating in an event or a
league whose teams are participating in an event;
(D) a theater company, musical group or similar
participant in an event; or
(E) an agent of any such person.
(8) Venue.--The term ``venue'' means the theater, stadium,
field, hall, or other facility where an event takes place.
SEC. 4. PROHIBITION.
(a) Unlawful Conduct.--Except as otherwise provided in this Act, it
shall be unlawful for any ticket issuer to prohibit or restrict the
resale or offering for resale of an event ticket by a lawful possessor
thereof.
(b) Activities Described.--Activities prohibited to ticket issuers
by this Act include--
(1) purporting to impose license or contractual terms on
the initial sale of event tickets (including terms printed on
the back of a physical ticket) that prohibit resale of the
ticket, or restrict the price or other terms and conditions
under which a ticket may be resold;
(2) requiring the purchaser of a ticket, whether for a
single event or for a series or season of events, to agree not
to resell the ticket, or to resell the ticket only through a
specific channel approved by the ticket issuer;
(3) bringing legal action, based on an unlawful prohibition
or restriction on resale of an event ticket, against--
(A) a purchaser who resells or offers to resell an
event ticket without permission of the ticket issuer,
or in violation of a restriction purportedly imposed by
the ticket issuer;
(B) persons who facilitate or provide services for
the resale of event tickets without such permission or
in alleged violation of such a restriction; or
(C) the operator of a physical or electronic
marketplace in which a ticket is offered for resale
without such permission or in alleged violation of such
a restriction;
(4) imposing any penalty on a ticket purchaser who resells
or offers to resell an event ticket without permission or in
violation of a restriction purportedly imposed by the ticket
issuer, or treating such a purchaser in any material way less
favorably than a similarly situated purchaser who does not
resell or offer to resell an event ticket, or who complies with
resale restrictions purportedly imposed by the ticket issuer;
(5) employing technological means, including any means of
promoting, carrying out, documenting or verifying sales of
event tickets, or of controlling entry to venues by lawful
possessors of event tickets, that have the effect of
prohibiting or restricting the ability of purchasers to resell
such tickets; or
(6) seeking to limit or restrict the price, or to impose a
minimum or maximum price, at which an event ticket may be
resold.
SEC. 5. CONSUMER PROTECTION MINIMUM STANDARDS.
(a) Unlawful Conduct.--It shall be unlawful for any person to
engage in the primary or resale market for event ticket sales in any
manner specified in subsection (b) without complying with the consumer
protection minimum standards specified in this section with regard to
event ticket sales.
(b) Application.--This section applies to all persons engaged in
the trade or business of--
(1) acting as a ticket issuer;
(2) engaging in the resale of event tickets, except in the
case of an individual engaged in resales of no more than 25
tickets in any one year; or
(3) providing a physical or electronic marketplace for the
sale or resale of event tickets by other persons.
(c) Compliance.--A person subject to this section may comply with
its provisions by conducting its sales or resales of event tickets in a
physical or electronic marketplace that provides the consumer
protection minimum standards specified in this section.
(d) General Requirements.--All persons subject to this section
shall--
(1) maintain a toll-free telephone number for complaints
and inquiries regarding its activities in the sale or resale of
event tickets; and
(2) implement and reasonably publicize a standard refund
policy that meets the minimum standards stated in subsection
(d).
(e) Requirements of Refund Policy.--The standard refund policy
described in subsection (c)--
(1) shall provide a consumer who purchases an event ticket
from the person a full refund if--
(A) the event is canceled before the scheduled
occurrence of the event, and is not rescheduled;
(B) the event ticket sold by the person and
received by the purchaser is counterfeit;
(C) the event ticket has been canceled by the
ticket issuer for nonpayment by the original purchaser,
or for any reason other than an act or omission of the
consumer;
(D) the event ticket materially and to the
detriment of the consumer fails to conform to the
description provided by the seller; or
(E) the event ticket was not delivered to the
consumer prior to the occurrence of the event, unless
such failure of delivery was due to any act or omission
of the consumer;
(2) shall include in a full refund the full price paid by
the consumer for the event ticket, together with any fees
charged in connection with that purchase, including convenience
fees, processing fees, at-home printing charges, shipping and
handling charges, or delivery fees; and
(3) may condition entitlement to a refund upon timely
return of the ticket purchased, and may include reasonable
safeguards against abuse of the policy.
(f) Requirements as Minimum Requirements.--Nothing in this section
shall be construed to prohibit any person subject to this section from
implementing consumer protection policies that exceed the minimum
standard set forth in this section, and that are otherwise compliant
with this Act.
SEC. 6. ENFORCEMENT.
(a) Unfair and Deceptive Act or Practice.--Any violation of section
4 or 5 shall be treated as a violation of a rule under section 18 of
the Federal Trade Commission Act regarding unfair or deceptive acts or
practices.
(b) Enforcement by the Federal Trade Commission.--The Commission
shall enforce this Act in the same manner, by the same means, and with
the same jurisdiction, powers and duties, as though all applicable
provisions of the Federal Trade Commission Act were incorporated into
and made a part of this Act.
(c) Enforcement by States.--
(1) Civil action.--In any case in which the attorney
general of a State, or an agency of a State responsible for
consumer protection, has reason to believe that an interest of
the residents of that State has been or is adversely affected
by any person who violates section 4 or 5 of this Act, the
attorney general or the State agency, as parens patriae, may
bring a civil action on behalf of the residents of the State in
a district court of the United States of appropriate
jurisdiction--
(A) to enjoin further violation of section 4 or 5
by the defendant; or
(B) to obtain damages on behalf of residents of the
State, in an amount equal to the greater of--
(i) the actual monetary loss suffered by
such residents; or
(ii) the amount determined under paragraph
(2).
(2) Statutory damages.--
(A) In general.--For purposes of paragraph
(1)(B)(ii), the amount determined under this paragraph
is the amount calculated by multiplying the number of
violations by up to $100, with each ticket subject to
an unlawful prohibition or restriction, or sold or
offered to be sold in violation of section 5, counted
as a separate violation.
(B) Limitation.--For any violation of section 4 or
5 with respect to any one event, the amount determined
under subparagraph (A) may not exceed $1,000,000.
(3) Attorney fees.--In the case of any successful action
under paragraph (1), the court, in its discretion, may award
the costs of the action and reasonable attorney fees to the
State.
(4) Rights of federal regulators.--The State shall serve
prior written notice of any action under paragraph (1) upon the
Federal Trade Commission and provide the Commission with a copy
of its complaint, except in any case in which such prior notice
is not feasible, in which case the State shall serve such
notice immediately upon instituting such action. The Federal
Trade Commission shall have the right--
(A) to intervene in the action;
(B) upon so intervening, to be heard on all matters
arising therein;
(C) to remove the action to the appropriate United
States district court; and
(D) to file petitions for appeal.
(5) Construction.--For purposes of bringing any civil
action under paragraph (1), nothing in this Act shall be
construed to prevent an attorney general of a State from
exercising the powers conferred on the attorney general by the
laws of that State to--
(A) conduct investigations;
(B) administer oaths or affirmations; or
(C) compel the attendance of witnesses or the
production of documentary and other evidence.
(6) Venue; service of process.--
(A) Venue.--Any action brought under paragraph (1)
may be brought in the district court of the United
States that meets applicable requirements relating to
venue under section 1391 of title 28, United States
Code.
(B) Service of process.--In an action brought under
paragraph (1), process may be served in any district in
which the defendant--
(i) is an inhabitant; or
(ii) maintains a physical place of
business.
(7) Limitation on state action while federal action is
pending.--If the Commission has instituted a civil action or an
administrative action for violation of this Act, no State
attorney general, or official or agency of a State, may bring
an action under this subsection during the pendency of that
action against any defendant named in the complaint of the
Commission for any violation of this Act alleged in the
complaint.
SEC. 7. EFFECT ON STATE LAW.
(a) Preemption in General.--Except as otherwise provided in this
section, this Act preempts and supersedes any inconsistent statute,
regulation, or rule of a State or political subdivision of a State that
purports to permit any action prohibited by this Act, but only to the
extent of such inconsistency.
(b) Preemption of Antiscalping Laws.--This Act preempts and
supersedes any statute, regulation, or rule of a State or political
subdivision of a State that limits the price at which an event ticket
may be resold.
(c) Savings.--Nothing in this Act shall be construed to preempt the
applicability of the law of a State or political subdivision of a State
that--
(1) regulates or prohibits the sale or resale of event
tickets--
(A) based on proximity of the location of sale to
the location of a venue; or
(B) in a manner that constitutes disorderly conduct
or breach of the peace;
(2) empowers the operator of a venue or its agent to deny
admission to any person, or to eject any person from an event,
in order to preserve public safety or order, or to prevent or
restrict the admission of minors;
(3) prohibits fraud, deception, or similar practices in
connection with the sale or resale of tickets, or prohibits the
sale or resale of counterfeit tickets;
(4) treats a ticket as a license for any purpose other than
the prohibition or restriction of resale;
(5) regulates the initial sale of event tickets by limiting
the number of tickets that may be purchased from a ticket
issuer by a single person; or
(6) prohibits the intentional circumvention of
technological means employed by ticket issuers to enforce
limitations on the number of tickets that may be purchased by a
single person, or the sale or distribution of devices, computer
programs, or other tools for the purpose of such circumvention.
SEC. 8. EXCEPTIONS.
Nothing in this Act shall be interpreted to invalidate restrictions
on the resale of tickets imposed by--
(1) sponsors or promoters of events intended solely to
benefit charitable endeavors, for which all tickets are
distributed free of charge;
(2) not-for-profit educational institutions, with respect
to athletic events involving athletes or teams of such
institutions, to the extent that such restrictions apply to
tickets initially distributed by the institution to--
(A) students, faculty, staff members, or alumni
without charge; or
(B) members of bona fide booster organizations
consisting of those making substantial financial
contributions to the institution.
SEC. 9. EFFECTIVE DATE.
This Act shall take effect 1 year after the date of enactment, and
shall apply to tickets for all events which occur on or after the
effective date.
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