I

104TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 857

To require the disclosure of service and other charges on tickets, and for

other purposes.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

FEBRUARY 8, 1995

Mr. DINGELL (for himself, Mr. CONDIT, Mr. MOORHEAD, and Mr. OXLEY) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Commerce

A BILL

To require the disclosure of service and other charges on

tickets, and for other purposes.

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 Fee Disclosure

5 Act of 1995’’.

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

7 The Congress finds that—

8 (1) sellers and resellers of entertainment and

9 sporting event tickets often impose service charges

10 and fees or other additional fees and charges, in ex-
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1 cess of the face amount of such tickets, to consum2 ers who purchase such tickets;

3 (2) consumers who desire to purchase entertain4 ment and sporting event tickets are entitled to full,

5 complete, and clear disclosure of any such additional

6 charges or fees;

7 (3) the failure by sellers and resellers of enter8 tainment and sporting event tickets to provide full,

9 complete, and clear disclosure of any such additional

10 charges or fees constitutes an unfair and deceptive

11 act or practice in or affecting commerce within the

12 meaning of section 5 of the Federal Trade Commis13 sion Act (15 U.S.C. 45);

14 (4) sellers and resellers of entertainment and

15 sporting event tickets should be required to disclose

16 to potential purchasers of such tickets the amount of

17 any additional fees and charges beyond the face

18 amount of such tickets, and to have the amount of

19 such charges or fees imprinted on the ticket or on

20 a receipt evidencing any such ticket sale; and

21 (5) the Federal Trade Commission should con22 duct a study and issue a report to the Congress con23 cerning practices by and relationships between per24 sons involved in entertainment and sporting events

25 (such as promoters, facility owners and operators,
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1 performers, and sellers and resellers of tickets) and

2 to make recommendations based on such study to

3 achieve better disclosure, information, access, and

4 value for consumers who seek to purchase entertain5 ment or sporting event tickets.

6 SEC. 3. DISCLOSURE OF SERVICE CHARGES OR ADDI7 TIONAL TICKET FEES.

8 It is unlawful for any seller or reseller (including any

9 ticket broker) of entertainment or sporting event tickets—

10 (1) to fail to disclose to a purchaser of an en11 tertainment or sporting event ticket, prior to any

12 purchase of such ticket, any fee, charge, or assess13 ment (other than a tax or other levy imposed pursu14 ant to Federal, State, or local law) to be imposed in

15 excess of the face amount of the ticket, and

16 (2) to fail to have the amount of any such fee,

17 charge, or assessment imprinted on the ticket or on

18 a receipt evidencing any such ticket sale.

19 SEC. 4. ENFORCEMENT.

20 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 3 shall be enforced by the

21 Federal Trade Commission under the Federal Trade Com22 mission Act (15 U.S.C. 41 et seq.). Consequently, no ac23 tivity which is outside the jurisdiction of that Act shall

24 be affected by this Act.
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1 (b) ACTIONS BY THE FEDERAL TRADE COMMIS2 SION.—The Federal Trade Commission shall prevent any

3 person from violating section 3 in the same manner, by

4 the same means, and with the same jurisdiction, powers,

5 and duties as though all applicable terms and provisions

6 of the Federal Trade Commission Act (15 U.S.C. 41 et

7 seq.) were incorporated into and made a part of this Act.

8 Any person who violates section 3 shall be subject to the

9 privileges and immunities provided in the Federal Trade

10 Commission Act in the same manner, by the same means,

11 and with the same jurisdiction, power, and duties, as

12 though all applicable terms and provisions of the Federal

13 Trade Commission Act were incorporated into and made

14 a part of this Act.

15 (c) TREATMENT OF VIOLATIONS.—Any violation of

16 section 3 shall be treated as a violation of a rule under

17 section 18 of the Federal Trade Commission Act (15

18 U.S.C. 57a) regarding unfair or deceptive acts or prac19 tices.

20 (d) EFFECT ON OTHER LAWS.—Nothing contained

21 in this Act shall be construed to limit the authority of the

22 Federal Trade Commission under any other provision of

23 law.
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1 SEC. 5. ACTIONS BY STATES.

2 Whenever an attorney general of any State has rea3 son to believe that the interests of the residents of that

4 State have been or are being threatened or adversely af5 fected because any person has engaged or is engaging in

6 an act or practice in violation of section 3, the State may

7 bring a civil action on behalf of its residents in an appro8 priate district court of the United States to enjoin such

9 act or practice, to enforce compliance of section 3, to ob10 tain damages, restitution, or other compensation on behalf

11 of residents of such State, or to obtain such further and

12 other relief as the court may deem appropriate.

13 SEC. 6. STUDY.

14 (a) STUDY.—The Federal Trade Commission shall

15 conduct a study of practices of persons involved in the sale

16 and resale of entertainment and sporting event tickets.

17 The study shall—

18 (1) include, at a minimum, an examination of

19 relevant practices by, and relationships between, the

20 following persons: promoters of entertainment and

21 sporting events; owners and operators of venues,

22 arenas, stages, and other facilities where such events

23 are staged; artists, athletes, and other performers;

24 and sellers and resellers of entertainment and sport25 ing event tickets,
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1 (2) identify charges, fees, or assessments im2 posed by such persons that purchasers of tickets

3 pay,

4 (3) include an evaluation of unique or exclusive

5 contractual relationships between any such persons

6 and their effect on consumer ticket prices and addi7 tional charges, fees, and assessments imposed there8 on,

9 (4) include a review of the practice of combin10 ing fees, assessments, and other charges with the

11 price of the ticket so that the face amount of the

12 ticket includes such fees, assessments, and other

13 charges,

14 (5) include an analysis of the effects on

15 consumer ticket prices and on additional fees, as16 sessments, and other charges imposed thereon of

17 consolidations, purchases, and other acquisitions by

18 and between such persons, and

19 (6) include an examination of the extent to

20 which entertainment and sporting event tickets are

21 withheld or otherwise not provided for public sale,

22 including an identification of persons who withhold

23 such tickets from public sale, identification of per24 sons (including ticket brokers) who purchase or oth25 erwise acquire tickets that are withheld from public
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1 sale, and the effect of any such practices on the abil2 ity of consumers to have reasonable access to tickets

3 at publicly available prices.

4 (b) REPORT.—Not later than one year after the date

5 of the enactment of this Act, the Federal Trade Commis6 sion shall submit to the Committee on Commerce of the

7 House of Representatives and the Committee on Com8 merce, Science, and Transportation of the Senate a writ9 ten report based on the study under subsection (a). Such

10 report shall include findings relating to practices that fail

11 to provide consumers with adequate disclosure or informa12 tion concerning fees, assessments, and other charges im13 posed on entertainment and sporting event tickets and

14 practices that lead to higher consumer prices for such tick15 ets and shall include recommendations to achieve better

16 disclosure, information, access, and value for consumers

17 of such tickets.

18 SEC. 7. DEFINITIONS.

19 For purposes of this Act:

20 (1) The term ‘‘attorney general’’ means the

21 chief legal officer of a State.

22 (2) The term ‘‘State’’ means any State of the

23 United States, the District of Columbia, Puerto
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1 Rico, the Northern Mariana Islands, and any terri2 tory or possession of the United States.

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