Live Nation Lawsuit Alleges Monopolistic Control Of Live Ticketing

Live Nation has been hit with a class action lawsuit in Federal Court which alleges that the company abuses its monopolistic control of the ticket industry to extract high fees from fans on event tickets. According to Courthouse News Service, the lead plaintiff in the lawsuit, Brendon Holub, claims that Ticketmaster's practice of charging add-on fees constitutes unfair business practices. Ticketmaster, Holub maintains that Ticketmaster should be using 'all-in' pricing.

"Defendant has not made a clear, simple transaction for the consumer," the complaint states. "Defendant continues use their monopoly market power to charge unfair fees and refuses to provide consumers with a clear simple transaction through implementation of 'all in' pricing. Due to lack of competition created by the merger defendant has been non-responsive to consumer demand and has extracted unfair overcharges in the form of add-on fees to ticket prices."

Holub is seeking an injunction barring Live Nation/Ticketmaster from charging add-on fees to ticket prices and restitution under California's unfair competition laws.

Live Nation did not respond immediately to a request for comment. – via CelebrityAccess