A lawsuit is trying to prove Ticketmaster’s terms are hard to find

Ticketmaster and Live Nation have been in hot water since the coronavirus pandemic began. With canceled and postponed events worldwide, the companies are facing various lawsuits over their refund polices for canceled events.

Now, customers are suing Ticketmaster and Live Nation in a class-action lawsuit. It’s argued that Ticketmaster’s website and app formatting “actively dissuade consumers from knowing or understanding that the Terms of Use are something they can or should read.”

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All of this started in April when Olivia Van Iderstine and Mitch Oberstein sued Ticketmaster and its parent Live Nation. They claim that the companies have a monopoly on live events and can charge “extraordinarily high fees” for tickets.

The companies then filed a motion in June. They argue that users have to agree to their terms of service at least three times. Included in those terms are a mandatory arbitration provision and a waiver of class action rights.

Therefore, Ticketmaster and Live Nation are asking this lawsuit to be thrown out. This is due to the fact that, legally, the plaintiffs agreed to the waiver of class action rights found in the terms of use.

Now, the plaintiffs are asking for more time to determine whether the companies have a valid arbitration agreement. As of now, customers click through the terms of use to complete purchases. The plaintiffs argue that the formating of the companies’ website and app doesn’t actually amount to customers accepting the terms. They believe the formatting of the terms of use is misleading and causes many to not read or understand it.

“Defendants argue that Plaintiffs agreed to arbitration clauses that are buried in Terms of Use on www.ticketmaster.com, www.livenation.com, and the Ticketmaster mobile application,” attorney Frederick Lorig writes. “The Terms of Use are presented to users in a ‘browsewrap’-type format that does not affirmatively require consumers to read the Terms. Or indicate they have read them before making a purchase.”

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The plaintiffs are also asking the companies to turn over the number of times users have signed into their website or app since January 1, 2010. Through these findings, they want to see how many times users clicked to read the terms of use on either platform within that timeframe. This is to further prove that customers don’t actually know what they are agreeing to when purchasing tickets.

Ultimately, this lawsuit is asking the companies to change how the terms of use are presented to customers. As well, the plaintiffs believe the companies should be more transparent within their terms of use.

Earlier this month, Live Nation was hit with even more criticism. In a reported memo, the company plans to have artists take on more financial burden over canceled shows in 2021. This is in efforts to keep the company from financial ruin if another pandemic causes events to be canceled worldwide. At this time, Live Nation has made no official statement about these reported plans.

The full lawsuit motion is available to read below.

Van Iderstine v Live Nation… by THROnline on Scribd

Do you read Ticketmaster’s terms of use before purchasing tickets? Let us know in the comments below.