Executive Order Addresses Ticketing
On March 31st President Donald Trump signed an Executive Order that addresses many of the concerns raised by live performance venues, artists, and audiences, as well as Arts North Carolina. The executive order states that will protect fans from exploitative ticket resellers and “bring commonsense reforms to America’s live entertainment ticketing industry.”
The Order directs the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) to:
- Work with the Attorney General to ensure that competition laws are appropriately enforced in the concert and entertainment industry.
- Rigorously enforce the Better Online Ticket Sales (BOTS) Act and promote its enforcement by state consumer protection authorities.
- Ensure price transparency at all stages of the ticket-purchase process, including the secondary ticketing market.
- Evaluate and, if appropriate, take enforcement action to prevent unfair, deceptive, and anti-competitive conduct in the secondary ticketing market.
The Order directs the Secretary of the Treasury and Attorney General to ensure that ticket resellers are operating in full compliance with the Internal Revenue Code and other applicable laws.
The Order also directs the Department of the Treasury, the Department of Justice, and the FTC to deliver a report within 180 days summarizing actions taken to address the issue of unfair practices in the live concert and entertainment industry and recommend additional regulations or legislation needed to protect consumers in this industry.
Arts North Carolina has been supporting similar changes, and this year is advocating to the NC General Assembly for legislation that would:
- Require third party ticket resellers to be transparent, identifying themselves as resellers and no longer pretending to be the venue, promoter, or authorized by the seller.
- Ban speculative ticket sales (selling tickets you do not possess).
- Ban the use of “bots” to circumvent sales restrictions.
- Ensure that resale buyers can receive refunds for cancellations.