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The National Independent Venue Association (NIVA) in the US has called for action on California’s Senate Bill 785, which aims to protect ticket-buyers and is currently up for consideration.
The California Assembly Committee on Privacy and Consumer Protection is currently considering SB 785, which would help to make deceptive and predatory practices around ticket resale illegal. If the bill passed, it would ban speculative ticketing; make deceptive URLs, fake websites, and the duplicate resale of a single ticket illegal; require resellers to disclose the original face value of a ticket; require resellers to prominently state they are a resale marketplace; and penalise resellers for the misinterpretation of what a ticket actually provides.
Additionally, the bill would prohibit a ticket reseller from claiming an event is sold out or use the term ‘sold out’, when tickets are still available through the original retailer’s website.
“California’s SB 785 protects fans, artists, and venues from the predatory ticket sellers who are driving up prices for Californians using deception, non-competitive practices, and scams,” said Stephen Parker, NIVA’s executive director.
“As law, this bill will restore trust and fairness in California’s ticket-buying process and protect fans from these unchecked resellers that tarnish the live entertainment experience. NIVA strongly advocates for the bill’s passage and hopes it can inspire other states to implement similar reform.”
California State Senator Ann Caballero, who represents the 14th State Senate district including Merced, Madera and Fresno Counties, and part of the Central Valley, authored the bill.
“I have heard countless stories from consumers who were misled during the purchase of live event tickets,” commented Caballero.
“Predatory practices, such as selling unauthenticated tickets, using deceptive websites or employing bots, harm the consumer experience. Small, independent venues are left to deal with customer complaints, refund requests or disputes over ticket authenticity. It is time we modernise California’s ticketing statute in order to protect consumers from anti-consumer practices and price gouging. SB 785 is a consumer protection bill that ends the predatory practices that currently plague the live entertainment ticketing industry by enacting meaningful reforms that place consumers, venues, artists and teams first.”
Jim Cornett, owner of independent venue Harlow’s in Sacramento and NIVA’s California chapter president, added: “Passage of SB 785 will put California, the birthplace of the modern concert industry, squarely where it should be: out in front and leading on protecting the consumer and the small businesses that depend and interact with consumers every day.
“We want to thank the author, Senator Anna Caballero (D-Merced), for her leadership as well as Assembly Privacy and Consumer Protection Committee Chair Asm. Rebecca Bauer-Kahan (D-San Ramon) for working with artists, venues, and nonprofits to get this policy right. We are ready to roll up our sleeves to get this to [California] Governor Newsom’s desk.”
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