I support New York State adopting the following Live Ticketing Principles:

The State of New York’s Ticketing Policy Should:

Preserve Clear & Conspicuous Ticket Price & Fees Throughout Every Ticket Transaction

• New York has a nationally-leading law that ensures fans have more transparency than 45+ other states.
• New York needs to preserve these consumer protections and increase enforcement to ensure compliance by primary and resale platforms.

Ban Resale Above Face Value & Fee Cap

• Ban the resale of all tickets above the original total cost of the ticket.
• Cap all total resale fees at no more than 5% of the original cost of the ticket.

Ban Deception & Ghost Tickets

• Ban the resale of tickets prior to the tickets going on sale to the general public.
• Ban speculative ticketing or ghost tickets (tickets not in the possession of resellers) without exception.
• Ban search engines from allowing predatory resale websites to place their results through advertising and SEO.
• Ban deceptive URLs and websites that spoof primary ticketing pages and use intellectual property of venues, festivals, and artists to deceive fans.
• Require that ticket resale platforms provide the same transparency as sites like eBay and Etsy by disclosing on every ticket listing:
  • The name, username, or business name of the seller;
  • The city and state (or foreign country) of the seller;
  • Whether the seller is a professional reseller or fan seller;
  • A rating from a system established by the resale platform to collect customer feedback on each seller.

Repeal Existing Provisions That Allow for An Unlimited Use of Bots

• Repeal New York’s current unlimited “scalper buffet” transferability provision taking away the ability of artists and venues to protect high-demand shows against bots and price-gouging resellers.
• Clarify that a ticket is a license and that venue operators may enforce the terms and conditions of their tickets to ensure the safety of fans and artists.

Stop Disadvantaging Comedy & Ensure All Forms of Performance Are Included

• Repeal sales tax on live event comedy tickets to create parity with the exemption that exists for other forms of live entertainment in New York.
• All types of performances - music, dance, theater, spoken word, comedy, and more - at non-profit and for-profit venues should be covered by the consumer protections for ticket buyers.

Create A Fund to Help Artists & Indie Venues

• Establish a Live Music and Performance Fund - fashioned after Tennessee’s program - to assist up-and-coming artists and independent venues/festivals with costs based on need.

Ensure Strong Enforcement

• Require all resellers and resale platforms that sell more than 50 tickets a year must register with the State without exception.
• Establish stringent fines of no less than $25,000 per day, per violation of all of the above requirements.
• Allocate appropriate, significant resources and authority to the Office of the Attorney General to establish an online reporting portal for ticket consumer protection violations and to pursue justice on behalf of fans under the above provisions.

The State of New York’s Ticketing Policy Should Not:

Limit Artists’ & Independent Stages’ Ability to Pay Significant Costs

• Treat artists and independent stages - with significant costs and overhead to put on each show - the same as multi-billion dollar resale platforms and resellers who have zero costs or risks in the show process.
• Restrict the ability of artists and independent stages to recoup their significant touring and operational costs to put on shows.
• Disadvantage the ability of artists and independent promoters who promote shows in large, open venues to pay for the significant costs of putting on those shows and competing with multi-national promoters.

Treat Artists & Independent Stages The Same as Sports & New York City Broadway Theaters - Their Needs & Realities Are Different And Their Requirements & Protections May Need to Be Different