Court Allows Lawsuit Against Live Nation and Ticketmaster

An American appeals court has allowed a proposed class action lawsuit to proceed against Live Nation and its subsidiary, Ticketmaster, over accusations of inflated ticket prices. The 9th U.S. Circuit Court, based in San Francisco, upheld a ruling that Live Nation cannot enforce contract terms requiring ticket buyers to settle claims through arbitration rather than in federal court. Live Nation argued that by purchasing tickets, customers had agreed to waive their right to sue. However, the appeals panel found the arbitration requirements unfair to consumers, calling them “overtly” favorable to the defendants. Under these terms, ticket-holders would have to resolve claims through a new arbitration service, New Era ADR, which the court deemed “unconscionable and unenforceable.” “Forced to accept terms subject to change without notice, a plaintiff must then arbitrate under…opaque and unfair rules,” wrote the appeals court. “The rules and terms are so overly harsh or one-sided as to clearly impose arbitration as an inferior forum.” The court described Live Nation’s ticketing agreements as “so dense, convoluted, and internally contradictory as to be nearly unintelligible.” Live Nation also faces separate legal challenges, including a multi-million-dollar class action lawsuit related to a Ticketmaster data breach earlier this year and a potential class action over delayed ticket sales for next year’s Australian Grand Prix.