Amd SS25.03, 25.11, 25.15, 25.25, 25.29, 25.30 & 25.35, add S25.24, Arts & Cul L; amd S4, Chap 704 of 1991
Relates to resale of tickets to places of entertainment; provides for the regulation of boxing and wrestling relating to tickets to places of entertainment.
STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
6444--C
Cal. No. 215
IN SENATE
January 12, 2010
___________
Introduced by Sen. C. JOHNSON -- read twice and ordered printed, and
when printed to be committed to the Committee on Investigations and
Government Operations -- reported favorably from said committee,
ordered to first and second report, ordered to a third reading,
amended and ordered reprinted, retaining its place in the order of
third reading -- again amended and ordered reprinted, retaining its
place in the order of third reading -- again amended and ordered
reprinted, retaining its place in the order of third reading
AN ACT to amend the arts and cultural affairs law, in relation to resale
of tickets to places of entertainment; to amend chapter 704 of the
laws of 1991, amending the arts and cultural affairs law and chapter
912 of the laws of 1920 relating to the regulation of boxing and wres-
tling relating to tickets to places of entertainment, in relation to
the effectiveness thereof
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-bly, do enact as follows:
1 Section 1. Section 25.03 of the arts and cultural affairs law is
2 amended by adding a new subdivision 10 to read as follows:
3 10. "Ticket office" means a building or other structure located other
4 than at the place of entertainment, at which the operator or the opera-
5 tor's agent offers tickets for first sale to the public.
6 § 2. Section 25.11 of the arts and cultural affairs law is amended by
7 adding a new subdivision 4 to read as follows:
8 4. For purposes of this section, "ticket office" means a building or
9 other structure located other than at the place of entertainment, at
10 which the operator or the operator's agent offers tickets for first sale
11 to the public.
12 § 3. Section 25.11 of the arts and cultural affairs law, as amended by
13 chapter 61 of the laws of 2007, subdivision 3 as amended by chapter 374
14 of the laws of 2007, is amended to read as follows:
15 § 25.11. Resales of tickets within buffer zone. 1. No person, firm,
16 corporation or not-for-profit organization, whether or not domiciled,
17 licensed or registered within the state, shall resell, offer to resell
18 or solicit the resale of any ticket to any place of entertainment having
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD15404-05-0
S. 6444--C 2
1 a permanent seating capacity in excess of five thousand persons within
2 one thousand five hundred feet from the physical structure of such place
3 of entertainment, or a ticket office.
4 2. No person, firm, corporation or not-for-profit organization, wheth-
5 er or not domiciled, licensed or registered within the state, shall
6 resell, offer to resell or solicit the resale of any ticket to any place
7 of entertainment having a permanent seating capacity of five thousand or
8 fewer persons within five hundred feet from the physical structure or
9 ticket office of such place of entertainment, provided however that
10 current licensees and those seeking a license under this article are
11 exempt from such buffer zone when operating out of a permanent physical
12 structure.
13 3. Notwithstanding subdivisions one and two of this section, an opera-
14 tor may designate an area within the property line of such place of
15 entertainment for the lawful resale of tickets only to events at such
16 place of entertainment by any person, firm, corporation or not-for-pro-
17 fit organization, whether or not domiciled, licensed or registered with-
18 in the state.
19 § 4. Section 25.15 of the arts and cultural affairs law, as amended by
20 chapter 374 of the laws of 2007, is amended to read as follows:
21 § 25.15. Bond. The secretary of state shall require the applicant for
22 a license to file with the application therefor a bond in due form to
23 the people of New York in the penal sum of twenty-five thousand dollars,
24 with two or more sufficient sureties or a duly authorized surety compa-
25 ny, which bond shall be approved by the secretary of state. Each such
26 bond shall be conditioned that the obligor will not be guilty of any
27 fraud or extortion, will not violate directly or indirectly any of the
28 provisions of this article or any of the provisions of the license or
29 certificate provided for in this article, will comply with the
30 provisions of this article and will pay all damages occasioned to any
31 person by reason of any misstatement, misrepresentation, fraud or deceit
32 or any unlawful act or omission of such obligor, his or her agents or
33 employees, while acting within the scope of their employment, made,
34 committed or omitted in connection with the provisions of this article
35 in the business conducted under such license or caused by any other
36 violation of this article in carrying on the business for which such
37 license is granted. [A suit to recover on the bond required to be filed
38 by the provisions of this article may be brought in the name of the
39 person damaged, upon the bond deposited with the department of state by
40 such licensed person, in a court of competent jurisdiction. The amount
41 of damages claimed by the plaintiff and not the penalty named in the
42 bond shall determine the jurisdiction of the court in which the action
43 is brought.] One or more recoveries or payments upon such bond shall not
44 vitiate the same but such bond shall remain in full force and effect,
45 provided, however, that the aggregate amount of all such recoveries or
46 payments shall not exceed the penal sum thereof. Before the secretary
47 shall draw upon such bond, the secretary shall issue a determination in
48 writing which shall include the basis of such action. The secretary
49 shall notify in writing the licensee of any such determination and shall
50 afford the licensee an opportunity to respond within twenty days of the
51 receipt of such determination. In no event may the bond be drawn upon in
52 less than twenty-five days after the service of a determination to the
53 licensee. Such written notice may be served by delivery thereof
54 personally to the licensee, or by certified mail to the last known busi-
55 ness address of such licensee. Only upon such determination of the
56 secretary shall moneys be withdrawn from the bond. Upon the commencement
S. 6444--C 3
1 of any action or actions against the surety upon any such bond for a sum
2 or sums aggregating or exceeding the amount of such bond the secretary
3 of state shall require a new and additional bond in like amount as the
4 original one, which shall be filed with the department of state within
5 thirty days after the demand therefor. Failure to file such bond within
6 such period shall constitute cause for the revocation of the license
7 pursuant to section 25.31 of this article theretofore issued to the
8 licensee upon whom such demand shall have been made. Any suit or action
9 against the surety on any bond required by the provisions of this
10 section shall be commenced within one year after the cause of action
11 shall have accrued.
12 § 5. Section 4 of chapter 704 of the laws of 1991, amending the arts
13 and cultural affairs law and chapter 912 of the laws of 1920 relating to
14 the regulation of boxing and wrestling relating to tickets to places of
15 entertainment, as amended by chapter 68 of the laws of 2009, is amended
16 to read as follows:
17 § 4. This act shall take effect on the sixtieth day after it shall
18 have become a law, provided, chapter 61 of the laws of 2007 shall not
19 take effect with respect to the issuance of licenses or certificates
20 under this article by the secretary of state or department of state
21 until January 1, 2008 and regulation under this article by the commis-
22 sioners of licenses of the political subdivisions of the state shall
23 continue through December 31, 2007, and shall remain in full force and
24 effect only until and including May 15, [2010] 2011 when such act shall
25 be repealed and when, notwithstanding any other provision of law, the
26 provisions of article 25 of title G of the arts and cultural affairs
27 law, repealed by such act, shall be reinstituted; provided further that
28 section 25.11 of the arts and cultural affairs law, as added by section
29 one of this act, shall survive such repeal date. Provided, however, the
30 printing on tickets required pursuant to sections 25.07 and 25.08 of
31 article 25 of the arts and cultural affairs law, as added by this act,
32 shall not apply to tickets printed prior to enactment of such article so
33 long as notice of the higher maximum premium price and prohibition of
34 sales within one thousand five hundred feet from the physical structure
35 of the place of entertainment, where applicable, is prominently
36 displayed at the point of sale and at such place of entertainment.
37 § 6. Section 25.25 of the arts and cultural affairs law, as amended by
38 chapter 374 of the laws of 2007, is amended to read as follows:
39 § 25.25. Records of purchases and sales. 1. Every licensee shall at
40 all times keep full and accurate sets of records showing: [(1)] (a) the
41 prices at which all tickets have been bought and sold by such licensee;
42 and [(2)] (b) the names and addresses of the person, firm or corporation
43 from whom they were bought. Operators offering for initial sale tickets
44 by means of an auction shall maintain a record of the price when known
45 and the number of tickets and types of seats offered through auction.
46 These records shall be made available upon request to the state attorney
47 general, the secretary of state, or other governmental body with the
48 express authority to enforce any section of this article; provided,
49 however, that the records required to be maintained by this section
50 shall be considered proprietary in nature and shall be governed by the
51 protections set forth in subdivision five of section eighty-nine of the
52 public officers law. These records shall be retained for a period of not
53 less than ten years.
54 2. Twice annually, on June thirtieth and December thirty-first, every
55 licensee that resells tickets or facilitates the resale or resale
56 auction of tickets between independent parties by any and all means
S. 6444--C 4
1 shall report to the consumer protection board the total number of, and
2 average resale or average final resale auction price of, all tickets to
3 each ticketed event, provided, however, that repeat performances of a
4 single event, and multiple events that are part of a season-long
5 performance shall be treated as a single event for the purposes of the
6 reporting requirement of this subdivision. The information required to
7 be reported by this section shall be considered proprietary in nature
8 and shall be governed by the protections set forth in subdivision five
9 of section eighty-nine of the public officers law, and shall be used
10 exclusively for analytical purposes by the consumer protection board.
11 § 7. Subdivision 1 of section 25.29 of the arts and cultural affairs
12 law, as amended by chapter 61 of the laws of 2007, is amended to read as
13 follows:
14 1. No operator of any place of entertainment, or his or her agent,
15 representative, employee or licensee shall, if a price be charged for
16 admission thereto, exact, demand, accept or receive, directly or indi-
17 rectly, any premium or price in excess of the established price plus
18 lawful taxes whether designated as price, gratuity or otherwise;
19 provided, however: (a) nothing in this article shall be construed to
20 prohibit a reasonable service charge by the operator or agents of the
21 operator for special services, including but not limited to, sales away
22 from the box office, credit card sales or delivery; and (b) nothing in
23 this article shall be construed to prohibit an operator or its agent
24 from offering for initial sale tickets by means of an auction.
25 § 8. Section 25.30 of the arts and cultural affairs law, as added by
26 chapter 61 of the laws of 2007, is amended to read as follows:
27 § 25.30. Operator prohibitions. 1. A ticket is a license, issued by
28 the operator of a place of entertainment, for admission to the place of
29 entertainment at the date and time specified on the ticket, subject to
30 the terms and conditions as specified by the operator. Notwithstanding
31 any other provision of law to the contrary, it shall be prohibited for
32 any operator of a place of entertainment, [who offers for sale
33 subscription or season ticket packages] or operator's agent, to:
34 (a) restrict by any means the resale of any tickets included in [the]
35 a subscription or season ticket package as a condition of purchase, as a
36 condition to retain such tickets for the duration of the subscription or
37 season ticket package agreement, or as a condition to retain any
38 contractually agreed upon rights to purchase future subscription or
39 season ticket packages that are otherwise conferred in the subscription
40 or season ticket agreement[. Furthermore, it shall be prohibited for any
41 operator of a place of entertainment to];
42 (b) deny access to a ticket holder who possesses a resold subscription
43 or season ticket to a performance based solely on the grounds that such
44 ticket has been resold[.]; or
45 (c) employ a form of paperless ticketing that is not readily transfer-
46 able to another customer.
47 2. Additionally, nothing in this article shall be construed to prohib-
48 it an operator of a place of entertainment from maintaining and enforc-
49 ing any policies regarding conduct or behavior at or in connection with
50 their venue. Further, nothing in this article shall be construed to
51 prohibit an operator of a place of entertainment, or such operator's
52 agent, from restricting the resale of tickets that are offered at a
53 promotional or discounted price, for free, or for persons with disabili-
54 ties. An operator shall be permitted to revoke or restrict season tick-
55 ets for reasons relating to violations of venue policies, including but
56 not limited to, attempts by two or more persons to gain admission to a
S. 6444--C 5
1 single event with both the cancelled tickets originally issued to a
2 season ticket holder and those tickets re-issued as part of a resale
3 transaction, and to the extent the operator may deem necessary for the
4 protection of the safety of patrons or to address fraud or misconduct.
5 3. No operator or operator's agent shall sell or convey tickets to any
6 secondary ticket reseller owned or controlled by the operator or opera-
7 tor's agent.
8 4. The operator or the promoter shall determine whether a seat for
9 which a ticket is for sale has an obstructed view, and shall disclose
10 such obstruction. If the operator or promoter discloses that a seat for
11 which a ticket is for sale has an obstructed view, it shall be the
12 responsibility of the secondary ticket reseller to disclose such
13 obstruction upon the resale of such ticket. Such obstruction shall not
14 include an obstruction of view caused by a person, or persons, seated in
15 an adjacent seat, or seats, or occupying an aisle; or an obstruction of
16 view caused by an object or objects placed upon an adjacent seat or
17 seats, or in an aisle; or an obstruction of view that is de minimus or
18 transitory in nature.
19 § 9. Section 25.35 of the arts and cultural affairs law is amended by
20 adding a new subdivision 7 to read as follows:
21 7. Notwithstanding any other provision to the contrary, when the fines
22 included in this section are imposed on a firm, corporation or other
23 entity that is not a single person, such fines may be imposed at up to
24 two times the amount otherwise allowed, or, where applicable, three
25 times the amount of the defendant's gain.
26 § 10. The arts and cultural affairs law is amended by adding a new
27 section 25.24 to read as follows:
28 § 25.24. Automated ticket purchasing software. 1. The term "automated
29 ticket purchasing software" shall mean, any machine, device, computer
30 program or computer software that navigates or runs automated tasks on
31 retail ticket purchasing websites in order to bypass security measures
32 to purchase tickets.
33 2. It shall be unlawful for any person to utilize automated ticket
34 purchasing software to purchase tickets.
35 3. Any person who knowingly utilizes automated ticket purchasing soft-
36 ware in order to bypass security measures to purchase tickets shall be
37 subject to a civil penalty in an amount of no less than five hundred
38 dollars and no more than one thousand dollars for each such violation
39 and shall forfeit all profits made from the sale of any such unlawfully
40 obtained tickets.
41 4. Any person who intentionally maintains any interest in or maintains
42 any control of the operation of automated ticket purchasing software to
43 bypass security measures to purchase tickets shall be subject to a civil
44 penalty in an amount of no less than seven hundred fifty dollars and no
45 more than one thousand five hundred dollars for each such violation and
46 shall forfeit all profits made from the sale of any such unlawfully
47 obtained tickets.
48 5. Any person who is subject to a civil penalty under this section and
49 has been assessed a penalty under this section in the previous five
50 years shall be guilty of a violation and may be fined no less than one
51 thousand dollars and no more than five thousand dollars for each such
52 violation and shall forfeit all profits from the sale of any such unlaw-
53 fully obtained tickets. In addition, a person convicted of a violation
54 under this section may be required to forfeit any and all equipment used
55 in the unlawful purchasing of tickets.
S. 6444--C 6
1 6. The attorney general shall have jurisdiction to enforce the
2 provisions of this section in accordance with the powers granted to him
3 or her by section sixty-three of the executive law.
4 7. In addition to the power given to the attorney general to enforce
5 the provisions of this section, any place of entertainment, as defined
6 by section 23.03 of this chapter, or any aggrieved party that has been
7 injured by wrongful conduct prescribed by this section may bring an
8 action to recover all actual damages suffered as a result of any of such
9 wrongful conduct. The court in its discretion may award damages up to
10 three times the amount of actual damages. The court may enjoin the
11 respondent from any and all activity prohibited under this section. The
12 court may also award reasonable attorney's fees and costs. Any penalty
13 or recovery authorized by this section may be recovered in a class
14 action.
15 § 11. Notwithstanding the provisions of article 5 of the general
16 construction law, if this act shall take effect after May 15, 2010, the
17 provisions of article 25 of the arts and cultural affairs law, except
18 section 25.11 are hereby revived and shall continue in full force and
19 effect as they existed on May 15, 2010 through May 15, 2011, when upon
20 such date such provisions shall expire and be deemed repealed.
21 § 12. This act shall take effect immediately; provided that:
22 (a) the amendments to section 25.03 of the arts and cultural affairs
23 law, made by section one of this act, shall be subject to the expiration
24 and reversion of such section pursuant to section 4 of chapter 704 of
25 the laws of 1991, as amended, when upon such date the provisions of
26 section two of this act shall take effect;
27 (b) the amendments to section 25.15 of the arts and cultural affairs
28 law made by section four of this act shall not affect the expiration and
29 reversion of such section and shall expire and be deemed repealed there-
30 with;
31 (c) the amendments to section 25.25 of the arts and cultural affairs
32 law, made by section six of this act shall not affect the repeal of such
33 section and shall be deemed repealed therewith;
34 (d) the amendments to section 25.29 of the arts and cultural affairs
35 law, made by section seven of this act shall not affect the repeal of
36 such section and shall be deemed repealed therewith;
37 (e) the amendments to section 25.30 of the arts and cultural affairs
38 law, made by section eight of this act, shall not affect the repeal of
39 such section and shall be deemed repealed therewith;
40 (f) the amendments to section 25.35 of the arts and cultural affairs
41 law, made by section nine of this act, shall not affect the repeal of
42 such section and shall be deemed repealed therewith;
43 (g) section 25.24 of the arts and cultural affairs law, as added by
44 section ten of this act, shall survive the expiration and reversion of
45 article 25 of such law as provided in section 4 of chapter 704 of the
46 laws of 1991, as amended; and
47 (h) the amendments to section 25.30 of the arts and cultural affairs
48 law with respect to paperless ticketing, made by section eight of this
49 act, shall not apply to any tickets sold prior to the effective date of
50 this act.
