Ticketmaster tickets and gift cards are shown at a box office in San Jose, Calif., on May 11, 2009. THE CANADIAN PRESS/AP, Paul Sakuma
The Supreme Court of Canada has rejected an appeal by Ticketmaster and Live Nation, both facing class-action lawsuits across multiple provinces. Allegations suggest they profited from third-party ticket reselling, violating their own terms by allowing automated "ticket bots" to buy tickets beyond set limits.
This legal battle originated from claims that Ticketmaster facilitated mass ticket scalping, breaching its own terms and policies. These allowed resellers to employ automated software, known as "ticket bots," to purchase event tickets in bulk, surpassing individual buying limits. The class-action lawsuit was first filed in British Columbia in 2018 and was followed by four similar cases in other provinces after media exposés regarding Ticketmaster's practices in the secondary ticket market.
Reports by The Toronto Star and CBC revealed Ticketmaster's alleged involvement in facilitating ticket reselling, particularly through its Trade Desk software, presented at a Las Vegas convention in 2018. The software was marketed to professional scalpers as a tool to "validate and manage" tickets for resale on Ticketmaster's platform, potentially leading to widespread scalping activity, contrary to the company's terms of use.
One of the lead plaintiffs, David Gomel, claimed he paid approximately US$437 for Bruno Mars concert tickets in Vancouver through StubHub, Ticketmaster's competitor in the secondary ticket market. The lawsuits allege a broader impact on the secondary ticket market, resulting in inflated prices that violate consumer protection laws and competition regulations.
The class-action in British Columbia accuses Ticketmaster of profiting unjustly from facilitating ticket resale while misleading the public with promises of fair ticket access at face value, rather than inflated prices.
Ticketmaster argued that its terms of use only applied to individual users of its website, not to the general public. The company claimed that the B.C. Court of Appeal erred in allowing the class-action to proceed, essentially transforming consumer agreements into promises to the broader market.
Ticketmaster emphasized the potential ramifications of the lawsuits on e-commerce businesses across Canada, urging the Supreme Court to clarify the scope of website terms of use in misrepresentation claims.
Despite Ticketmaster's arguments, the Supreme Court upheld the B.C. Court of Appeal's decision from July 2023, dismissing Ticketmaster's appeal.
As of now, there has been no response from Ticketmaster's legal team, the B.C. law firm representing the class, or lead plaintiff David Gomel regarding the Supreme Court's decision.
