Sec. 3. Ensuring ticketing market integrity
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It shall be unlawful for a secondary ticketing exchange or reseller, or the operator of any website purporting to sell or offer for sale event tickets that links or redirects to a secondary ticketing exchange or reseller, to— use any artist name, venue name, or event organizer name, graphic, marketing logo, image or other intellectual property of the artist, venue, or event organizer including any proprietary resemblance of the venue where an event shall occur in promotional materials, social media promotions, or URLs of the secondary ticketing exchange, reseller, or website without the prior authorization of the respective artist, venue, or event organizer under the terms of agreement between the artist, venue, or event organizer and the secondary ticketing exchange, reseller, or website; or state or imply that the secondary ticketing exchange, reseller, or website is affiliated with or endorsed by a venue, team, or artist, as applicable, including by using words like official in promotional materials, social media promotions, search engine optimization, paid advertising, URLs, or search engine monetization unless the secondary ticketing exchange, reseller, or website has the express written consent of the venue, team, or artist, as applicable.
Paragraph
(1)shall not prohibit a secondary ticketing exchange or reseller from using text containing the name of an artist, venue, or event organizers to describe an event and identify the location at which the event will occur, or provide information identifying the space within the venue that an event ticket would entitle the bearer to occupy for an event. It shall be unlawful for a reseller to sell, offer for sale, or advertise for sale an event ticket unless the seller has actual or constructive possession of the event ticket. Nothing in this subsection shall be construed to prohibit any person from offering a service to a consumer to obtain an event ticket on behalf of the consumer provided that the person— does not market or list such service as an event ticket; lists the price for such service separately from the total event ticket price paid by the service provider for the event ticket in any advertisement, marketing, price list, social media promotion, or other interface that displays a price for such service; maintains a clear, distinct, and easily discernible separation between such service and event tickets through unavoidable visual demarcation that persists throughout the entire service selection and purchasing process; clearly and conspicuously discloses prior to selection of the service that such service is not an event ticket and that the purchase of such service does not guarantee a ticket to such event; shall not obtain tickets through any fan club program; shall not obtain more tickets in each transaction than the numerical limitations for tickets set by the venue and artist for each respective event; and in the event the service is unable to obtain the specified event ticket purchased through the service for the consumer, provides the consumer that purchased the service, within a reasonable amount of time— a full refund for the total cost of the service to obtain an event ticket on behalf of the consumer; or subject to availability, a replacement event ticket in the same or a comparable location with the approval of the consumer. It shall be unlawful for any seller to sell or offer for sale an event ticket in or affecting commerce, unless the seller does the following: The seller clearly and conspicuously— displays the total event ticket price in any advertisement, marketing, price list, social media promotion, or other interface that displays a price for the event ticket; and discloses to any individual who seeks to purchase an event ticket the total event ticket price at the time the ticket is first displayed to the individual and anytime thereafter throughout the ticket purchasing process, including an itemized breakdown of the face value of the event ticket and all applicable taxes and ancillary fees. The seller discloses to any individual who seeks to purchase an event ticket— the space within the venue that the event ticket would entitle the bearer to occupy for the event, whether that is general admission or the specific seat or section, at the initial point of ticket selection by the purchaser; the seller's refund policies and how to obtain a refund from the seller if— the purchaser receives an event ticket that does not match the description of the ticket provided to the purchaser at the point of purchase; the event is canceled or postponed; the event ticket does not or would not grant the purchaser admission to the event; the event ticket is counterfeit; or the event ticket was resold in violation of the terms and conditions established by the event organizer or its primary seller; the date and means of delivery by which the event ticket will be delivered to the purchaser; any restrictions on resale of the event ticket under the terms and conditions of the event ticket; and a link to the website created by the Commission under section 5(d) through which individuals may report violations of this Act to the Commission. The seller discloses or provides a link to the full terms and conditions of the event ticket to any individual who seeks to purchase an event ticket prior to the point of purchase. If the event ticket is an electronic ticket, the seller delivers written proof of purchase to the purchaser as soon as is practicable and no later than 24 hours following the purchase of the event ticket, which shall include— the date and time of the purchase of the event ticket; the face value and total purchase price of the event ticket, including all taxes and ancillary fees; the space within the venue that the event ticket would entitle the bearer to occupy for the event, whether that is general admission or the specific seat or section; the date on which and the means by which the event ticket will be delivered to the purchaser; and any restrictions on resale of the event ticket under the terms and conditions of the event ticket. In the event of an event cancellation, a seller shall provide a purchaser of an event ticket from that seller, at the option of the purchaser, at a minimum a full refund of the total event ticket price plus any taxes paid by the purchaser. Subparagraph
(A)shall not apply where an event is canceled due to a cause beyond the reasonable control of the event organizer, including a natural disaster, civil disturbance, or otherwise unforeseeable impediment. A secondary ticketing exchange shall, in connection with each secondary sale of an event ticket facilitated or executed by the exchange, provide at a minimum the ticket purchaser the option to opt-in by affirmative express consent to provide the artist and venue the purchaser’s name, email address, and phone number for the sole purposes of— ensuring the safety and security of the artist, venue staff or property, event attendees, or any other individual or property associated with the event; or allowing the artist or venue to provide the purchaser with information about event postponements or cancellations. If a purchaser provides the affirmative express consent described in subparagraph
(A)to a secondary ticketing exchange, the exchange shall provide the information described in such subparagraph to the artist and venue. It shall be unlawful for an artist or venue to use information disclosed to the artist or venue in accordance with this paragraph from any purpose other than the purposes described in clauses
(i)and
(ii)of subparagraph (A), including for promotional purposes. Nothing in this paragraph shall be construed to conflict with or preempt existing data privacy laws. It shall be unlawful for a secondary ticketing exchange to— facilitate or execute the secondary sale of an event ticket unless the secondary ticketing exchange clearly and conspicuously discloses— that it is not the primary seller of the event ticket at the top of its website, or at a comparable appropriate place on its software application or other digital platform, and at the point of purchase; or if the secondary ticketing exchange also operates as the primary seller with respect to the event ticket, a notice on any page or interface that facilitates the resale of event tickets, that event tickets available on the page or interface are being resold; receive the exclusive right to use the artist name, venue name, event organizer name, graphic, marketing logo, image or other intellectual property of the artist, venue, or event organizer in promotional materials, social media promotions, search engine optimization, or in any marketing agreement between the artist, venue, or event organizer and the secondary ticketing exchange, if the secondary ticketing exchange is owned by, controlled by, or under common ownership or control with a person that also operates as a primary seller or event organizer; or advertise or represent that it is the primary seller of an event for which it is not the primary seller. One year after the date of enactment of this Act, the Comptroller General of the United States shall release a study on the event ticket market. The study required under paragraph
(1)shall include— an assessment of how professional resellers obtain event tickets that are subsequently offered for resale, including whether those methods violate the BOTS Act ( Public Law 114–274 ); an assessment of event ticket brokers obtaining tickets through fan club, venue pre sales, or credit card rewards programs; an assessment of the prevalence of counterfeit or fraudulently sold event tickets and whether incidents of counterfeit or fraudulently sold event tickets are reported to law enforcement agencies by consumers, venues, sellers, or other entities; an assessment of the incidence of consumers purchasing event tickets on secondary ticketing exchanges who are subsequently denied entry to the event for which they purchased event tickets; an assessment of the percentage of event tickets to events that are acquired by professional resellers for purposes of resale; an assessment of the average cost of event tickets in relation to their face value and total event ticket price; an assessment of the average cost of concert event tickets sold on the secondary market in relation to their face value and total event ticket price; an assessment of the average cost of event tickets in relation to their face value, ancillary fees and total event ticket price in both the primary and secondary markets; an assessment of primary and secondary exchange market share, including an estimate of how many tickets are purchased and resold on the same platform and average fees generated in closed-loop ticket resale; an assessment of the overall size of the resale market, including percentage of tickets resold and the total monetary volume of the resale market; an assessment of consumer use of the resale market, including how often ordinary consumers who intended to go to an event had to resell event tickets and what percentage of face value their event tickets sold for; an assessment of the prevalence of exclusive contracts between a primary seller and any venue or artist, including the effect of such exclusive contracts on the market for primary seller services, taking into account averages for events of various types (including but not limited to sports, concerts, fine arts performances) and venues (including but not limited to stadiums, amphitheaters, concert halls, clubs); an assessment of event ticket allocation by primary sellers, including the effect of event ticket allocation on event ticket prices, taking into account averages for events of various types (including but not limited to sports, concerts, fine arts performances) and venues (including but not limited to stadiums, amphitheaters, concert halls, clubs); an assessment of secondary ticketing exchanges and event ticket brokers offering services to a consumer to obtain an event ticket on behalf of the consumer, including but not limited to whether the platforms and brokers are deploying unfair, unethical, or illegal tactics to acquire such tickets and prevent fans from accessing them at face value; an assessment of market manipulation techniques employed by professional resellers, including but not limited to buy and hold strategies where event tickets purchased for resale are not listed for sale to affect secondary event ticket prices; and an assessment of the prevalence of exclusive national touring arrangements between promoters and artists and an assessment of artists represented by managers under shared ownership with promoters and ticketing companies, including how often those artists utilize the services of companies under shared ownership, including ticketing, event organizing, merchandising and venue rental.
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Sec. 3
Ensuring ticketing market integrity
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