I 

111TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 4795 

To prohibit restrictions on the resale of event tickets sold in interstate 

commerce as an unfair or deceptive act or practice. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MARCH 9, 2010 

Mr. MATHESON (for himself and Mr. TERRY) introduced the following bill; 

which was referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce 

A BILL 

To prohibit restrictions on the resale of event tickets sold 

in interstate commerce as an unfair or deceptive act 

or practice. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Ticket Act’’. 

5 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

6 Congress finds the following: 

7 (1) Sponsors and promoters of major music, 

8 sporting, and theatrical events are increasingly seek9 ing to control the resale of tickets to such events in 

10 the secondary market, by employing restrictive State 


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1 laws, imposing and enforcing onerous contractual or 

2 license terms, and imposing technological barriers on 

3 ticket resale. 

4 (2) Such restrictions and downstream controls 

5 substantially impede interstate commerce in event 

6 tickets, drive up ticket prices, reduce availability of 

7 tickets to interested purchasers, narrow the choices 

8 available to the public, and are unfair to consumers. 

9 (3) Eliminating such restrictions and applying 

10 free market principles to the secondary market in 

11 event tickets would encourage a robust competitive 

12 marketplace in such tickets, would promote the 

13 healthy growth of electronic commerce in such tick14 ets in online marketplaces, and would be in the best 

15 interests of ticket purchasers, fans, and the general 

16 public. 

17 (4) Purchasers of event tickets, whether in the 

18 primary or secondary ticket markets, are entitled to 

19 minimum consumer protection standards, including 

20 provisions for full refunds of ticket purchases in ap21 propriate circumstances. 

22 (5) In order to achieve a nationwide free mar23 ket in resale of event tickets, Congress must act to 

24 preempt State or local laws that unjustifiably re25 strict such resales, while preserving State and local 


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1 authority to legislate or regulate to prevent fraud, 

2 maintain public order, or vindicate other legitimate 

3 State and local interests. 

4 SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS. 

5 In this Act: 

6 (1) COMMISSION.—The term ‘‘Commission’’ 

7 means the Federal Trade Commission. 

8 (2) EVENT.—The term ‘‘event’’ means any con9 cert, theatrical performance, sporting event, exhi10 bition, show, or similar scheduled activity, taking 

11 place in a venue with a seating or attendance capac12 ity exceeding 1,000 persons— 

13 (A) that is open to the general public; 

14 (B) for which an admission fee is charged; 

15 and 

16 (C) that is promoted, advertised, or mar17 keted in interstate commerce or for which event 

18 tickets are generally sold in interstate com19 merce. 

20 (3) EVENT TICKET.—The term ‘‘event ticket’’ 

21 means any physical, electronic, or other form of a 

22 certificate, document, voucher, token, or other evi23 dence indicating that the bearer, possessor, or per24 son entitled to possession through purchase or other25 wise has— 


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1 (A) a revocable or irrevocable right, privi2 lege, or license to enter an event venue or oc3 cupy a particular seat or area in an event venue 

4 with respect to one or more events; or 

5 (B) an entitlement to purchase such a 

6 right, privilege, or license with respect to one or 

7 more future events. 

8 (4) PERSON.—The term ‘‘person’’ means any 

9 natural person, partnership, corporation, association, 

10 or other legal entity, including any person acting 

11 under color or authority of State law. 

12 (5) RESALE.—The term ‘‘resale’’ includes any 

13 form of transfer, or offering to transfer, of posses14 sion or entitlement to possession of an event ticket 

15 from one person to another, with or without consid16 eration, whether in person or by means of telephone, 

17 mail, delivery service, facsimile, Internet, email, or 

18 other electronic means. The term ‘‘resale’’ does not 

19 include the initial sale of an event ticket by the tick20 et issuer. 

21 (6) STATE.—The term ‘‘State’’ means any of 

22 the several States, the District of Columbia, the 

23 Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, or any other terri24 tory or possession of the United States. 


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1 (7) TICKET ISSUER.—The term ‘‘ticket issuer’’ 

2 means any person that first makes event tickets 

3 available, directly or indirectly, to the general public, 

4 and may include— 

5 (A) the operator of a venue; 

6 (B) the sponsor or promoter of an event; 

7 (C) a sports team participating in an event 

8 or a league whose teams are participating in an 

9 event; 

10 (D) a theater company, musical group or 

11 similar participant in an event; or 

12 (E) an agent of any such person. 

13 (8) VENUE.—The term ‘‘venue’’ means the the14 ater, stadium, field, hall, or other facility where an 

15 event takes place. 

16 SEC. 4. PROHIBITION. 

17 (a) UNLAWFUL CONDUCT.—Except as otherwise pro18 vided in this Act, it shall be unlawful for any ticket issuer 

19 to prohibit or restrict the resale or offering for resale of 

20 an event ticket by a lawful possessor thereof. 

21 (b) ACTIVITIES DESCRIBED.—Activities prohibited to 

22 ticket issuers by this Act include— 

23 (1) purporting to impose license or contractual 

24 terms on the initial sale of event tickets (including 

25 terms printed on the back of a physical ticket) that 


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1 prohibit resale of the ticket, or restrict the price or 

2 other terms and conditions under which a ticket may 

3 be resold; 

4 (2) requiring the purchaser of a ticket, whether 

5 for a single event or for a series or season of events, 

6 to agree not to resell the ticket, or to resell the tick7 et only through a specific channel approved by the 

8 ticket issuer; 

9 (3) bringing legal action, based on an unlawful 

10 prohibition or restriction on resale of an event ticket, 

11 against— 

12 (A) a purchaser who resells or offers to re13 sell an event ticket without permission of the 

14 ticket issuer, or in violation of a restriction pur15 portedly imposed by the ticket issuer; 

16 (B) persons who facilitate or provide serv17 ices for the resale of event tickets without such 

18 permission or in alleged violation of such a re19 striction; or 

20 (C) the operator of a physical or electronic 

21 marketplace in which a ticket is offered for re22 sale without such permission or in alleged viola23 tion of such a restriction; 

24 (4) imposing any penalty on a ticket purchaser 

25 who resells or offers to resell an event ticket without 


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1 permission or in violation of a restriction purport2 edly imposed by the ticket issuer, or treating such 

3 a purchaser in any material way less favorably than 

4 a similarly situated purchaser who does not resell or 

5 offer to resell an event ticket, or who complies with 

6 resale restrictions purportedly imposed by the ticket 

7 issuer; 

8 (5) employing technological means, including 

9 any means of promoting, carrying out, documenting 

10 or verifying sales of event tickets, or of controlling 

11 entry to venues by lawful possessors of event tickets, 

12 that have the effect of prohibiting or restricting the 

13 ability of purchasers to resell such tickets; or 

14 (6) seeking to limit or restrict the price, or to 

15 impose a minimum or maximum price, at which an 

16 event ticket may be resold. 

17 SEC. 5. CONSUMER PROTECTION MINIMUM STANDARDS. 

18 (a) UNLAWFUL CONDUCT.—It shall be unlawful for 

19 any person to engage in the primary or resale market for 

20 event ticket sales in any manner specified in subsection 

21 (b) without complying with the consumer protection min22 imum standards specified in this section with regard to 

23 event ticket sales. 

24 (b) APPLICATION.—This section applies to all per25 sons engaged in the trade or business of— 


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1 (1) acting as a ticket issuer; 

2 (2) engaging in the resale of event tickets, ex3 cept in the case of an individual engaged in resales 

4 of no more than 25 tickets in any one year; or 

5 (3) providing a physical or electronic market6 place for the sale or resale of event tickets by other 

7 persons. 

8 (c) COMPLIANCE.—A person subject to this section 

9 may comply with its provisions by conducting its sales or 

10 resales of event tickets in a physical or electronic market11 place that provides the consumer protection minimum 

12 standards specified in this section. 

13 (d) GENERAL REQUIREMENTS.—All persons subject 

14 to this section shall— 

15 (1) maintain a toll-free telephone number for 

16 complaints and inquiries regarding its activities in 

17 the sale or resale of event tickets; and 

18 (2) implement and reasonably publicize a stand19 ard refund policy that meets the minimum standards 

20 stated in subsection (d). 

21 (e) REQUIREMENTS OF REFUND POLICY.—The 

22 standard refund policy described in subsection (c)— 

23 (1) shall provide a consumer who purchases an 

24 event ticket from the person a full refund if— 


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1 (A) the event is canceled before the sched2 uled occurrence of the event, and is not re3 scheduled; 

4 (B) the event ticket sold by the person and 

5 received by the purchaser is counterfeit; 

6 (C) the event ticket has been canceled by 

7 the ticket issuer for nonpayment by the original 

8 purchaser, or for any reason other than an act 

9 or omission of the consumer; 

10 (D) the event ticket materially and to the 

11 detriment of the consumer fails to conform to 

12 the description provided by the seller; or 

13 (E) the event ticket was not delivered to 

14 the consumer prior to the occurrence of the 

15 event, unless such failure of delivery was due to 

16 any act or omission of the consumer; 

17 (2) shall include in a full refund the full price 

18 paid by the consumer for the event ticket, together 

19 with any fees charged in connection with that pur20 chase, including convenience fees, processing fees, 

21 at-home printing charges, shipping and handling 

22 charges, or delivery fees; and 

23 (3) may condition entitlement to a refund upon 

24 timely return of the ticket purchased, and may inVerDate Nov 24 2008 03:01 Mar 11, 2010 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4795.IH H4795

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1 clude reasonable safeguards against abuse of the 

2 policy. 

3 (f) REQUIREMENTS AS MINIMUM REQUIREMENTS.— 

4 Nothing in this section shall be construed to prohibit any 

5 person subject to this section from implementing con6 sumer protection policies that exceed the minimum stand7 ard set forth in this section, and that are otherwise compli8 ant with this Act. 

9 SEC. 6. ENFORCEMENT. 

10 (a) UNFAIR AND DECEPTIVE ACT OR PRACTICE.— 

11 Any violation of section 4 or 5 shall be treated as a viola12 tion of a rule under section 18 of the Federal Trade Com13 mission Act regarding unfair or deceptive acts or prac14 tices. 

15 (b) ENFORCEMENT BY THE FEDERAL TRADE COM16 MISSION.—The Commission shall enforce this Act in the 

17 same manner, by the same means, and with the same ju18 risdiction, powers and duties, as though all applicable pro19 visions of the Federal Trade Commission Act were incor20 porated into and made a part of this Act. 

21 (c) ENFORCEMENT BY STATES.— 

22 (1) CIVIL ACTION.—In any case in which the 

23 attorney general of a State, or an agency of a State 

24 responsible for consumer protection, has reason to 

25 believe that an interest of the residents of that State 


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1 has been or is adversely affected by any person who 

2 violates section 4 or 5 of this Act, the attorney gen3 eral or the State agency, as parens patriae, may 

4 bring a civil action on behalf of the residents of the 

5 State in a district court of the United States of ap6 propriate jurisdiction— 

7 (A) to enjoin further violation of section 4 

8 or 5 by the defendant; or 

9 (B) to obtain damages on behalf of resi10 dents of the State, in an amount equal to the 

11 greater of— 

12 (i) the actual monetary loss suffered 

13 by such residents; or 

14 (ii) the amount determined under 

15 paragraph (2). 

16 (2) STATUTORY DAMAGES.— 

17 (A) IN GENERAL.—For purposes of para18 graph (1)(B)(ii), the amount determined under 

19 this paragraph is the amount calculated by mul20 tiplying the number of violations by up to $100, 

21 with each ticket subject to an unlawful prohibi22 tion or restriction, or sold or offered to be sold 

23 in violation of section 5, counted as a separate 

24 violation. 


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1 (B) LIMITATION.—For any violation of 

2 section 4 or 5 with respect to any one event, the 

3 amount determined under subparagraph (A) 

4 may not exceed $1,000,000. 

5 (3) ATTORNEY FEES.—In the case of any suc6 cessful action under paragraph (1), the court, in its 

7 discretion, may award the costs of the action and 

8 reasonable attorney fees to the State. 

9 (4) RIGHTS OF FEDERAL REGULATORS.—The 

10 State shall serve prior written notice of any action 

11 under paragraph (1) upon the Federal Trade Com12 mission and provide the Commission with a copy of 

13 its complaint, except in any case in which such prior 

14 notice is not feasible, in which case the State shall 

15 serve such notice immediately upon instituting such 

16 action. The Federal Trade Commission shall have 

17 the right— 

18 (A) to intervene in the action; 

19 (B) upon so intervening, to be heard on all 

20 matters arising therein; 

21 (C) to remove the action to the appropriate 

22 United States district court; and 

23 (D) to file petitions for appeal. 

24 (5) CONSTRUCTION.—For purposes of bringing 

25 any civil action under paragraph (1), nothing in this 


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1 Act shall be construed to prevent an attorney gen2 eral of a State from exercising the powers conferred 

3 on the attorney general by the laws of that State 

4 to— 

5 (A) conduct investigations; 

6 (B) administer oaths or affirmations; or 

7 (C) compel the attendance of witnesses or 

8 the production of documentary and other evi9 dence. 

10 (6) VENUE; SERVICE OF PROCESS.— 

11 (A) VENUE.—Any action brought under 

12 paragraph (1) may be brought in the district 

13 court of the United States that meets applicable 

14 requirements relating to venue under section 

15 1391 of title 28, United States Code. 

16 (B) SERVICE OF PROCESS.—In an action 

17 brought under paragraph (1), process may be 

18 served in any district in which the defendant— 

19 (i) is an inhabitant; or 

20 (ii) maintains a physical place of busi21 ness. 

22 (7) LIMITATION ON STATE ACTION WHILE FED23 ERAL ACTION IS PENDING.—If the Commission has 

24 instituted a civil action or an administrative action 

25 for violation of this Act, no State attorney general, 


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1 or official or agency of a State, may bring an action 

2 under this subsection during the pendency of that 

3 action against any defendant named in the com4 plaint of the Commission for any violation of this 

5 Act alleged in the complaint. 

6 SEC. 7. EFFECT ON STATE LAW. 

7 (a) PREEMPTION IN GENERAL.—Except as otherwise 

8 provided in this section, this Act preempts and supersedes 

9 any inconsistent statute, regulation, or rule of a State or 

10 political subdivision of a State that purports to permit any 

11 action prohibited by this Act, but only to the extent of 

12 such inconsistency. 

13 (b) PREEMPTION OF ANTISCALPING LAWS.—This 

14 Act preempts and supersedes any statute, regulation, or 

15 rule of a State or political subdivision of a State that lim16 its the price at which an event ticket may be resold. 

17 (c) SAVINGS.—Nothing in this Act shall be construed 

18 to preempt the applicability of the law of a State or polit19 ical subdivision of a State that— 

20 (1) regulates or prohibits the sale or resale of 

21 event tickets— 

22 (A) based on proximity of the location of 

23 sale to the location of a venue; or 

24 (B) in a manner that constitutes disorderly 

25 conduct or breach of the peace; 


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1 (2) empowers the operator of a venue or its 

2 agent to deny admission to any person, or to eject 

3 any person from an event, in order to preserve pub4 lic safety or order, or to prevent or restrict the ad5 mission of minors; 

6 (3) prohibits fraud, deception, or similar prac7 tices in connection with the sale or resale of tickets, 

8 or prohibits the sale or resale of counterfeit tickets; 

9 (4) treats a ticket as a license for any purpose 

10 other than the prohibition or restriction of resale; 

11 (5) regulates the initial sale of event tickets by 

12 limiting the number of tickets that may be pur13 chased from a ticket issuer by a single person; or 

14 (6) prohibits the intentional circumvention of 

15 technological means employed by ticket issuers to 

16 enforce limitations on the number of tickets that 

17 may be purchased by a single person, or the sale or 

18 distribution of devices, computer programs, or other 

19 tools for the purpose of such circumvention. 

20 SEC. 8. EXCEPTIONS. 

21 Nothing in this Act shall be interpreted to invalidate 

22 restrictions on the resale of tickets imposed by— 

23 (1) sponsors or promoters of events intended 

24 solely to benefit charitable endeavors, for which all 

25 tickets are distributed free of charge; 


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1 (2) not-for-profit educational institutions, with 

2 respect to athletic events involving athletes or teams 

3 of such institutions, to the extent that such restric4 tions apply to tickets initially distributed by the in5 stitution to— 

6 (A) students, faculty, staff members, or 

7 alumni without charge; or 

8 (B) members of bona fide booster organi9 zations consisting of those making substantial 

10 financial contributions to the institution. 

11 SEC. 9. EFFECTIVE DATE. 

12 This Act shall take effect 1 year after the date of 

13 enactment, and shall apply to tickets for all events which 

14 occur on or after the effective date. 

Æ 


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