Hamburg district court deals another blow to Viagogo

The district court of Hamburg – which last month issued a preliminary injunction preventing Viagogo from reselling tickets for Rammstein’s upcoming European stadium tour – has dealt a further blow to the controversial ticket resale site by granting a similar prohibition to FKP Scorpio for its 2019 Ed Sheeran dates.

The ruling by the district court, or Landgericht, forbids Switzerland-based Viagogo for reselling tickets for FKP’s four Sheeran shows – in Hockenheim on 22 and 23 June and Hanover on 2 and 3 August 2019, for which the promoter sold more than 200,000 tickets – and claiming they are valid for entry.

All tickets for the concerts are personalised and only valid for resale via CTS Eventim’s face-value fanSALE platform.

Folkert Koopmans, CEO of FKP Scorpio, says: “We very much welcome the decision of the Hamburg district court, which represents another important step towards stopping the black market and price gouging, which is in the interests of artists, promoters and fans.

“We will continue to combat tickets resold at inflated prices”

“We will continue to combat tickets resold at inflated prices in the future in order to be able to continue offering affordable tickets to music fans, in close cooperation with the artists, their management and other promoters.”

FKP is represented by law firm Schütz Rechtsanwälte, which has past experience with litigating against Viagogo. Lawyer Markus Schütz comments: “Ed Sheeran is known for taking action against the black market to protect his fans from rip-offs. It is not individual private sellers that are the problem, but those who buy the tickets from the beginning with the intention of making money.

“Fans can only be advised not to take a risk on the black market, and in particular Viagogo, to buy invalid or forged tickets at exorbitant prices.”

Responding, Viagogo issued the following statement: “The tickets sold on Viagogo’s platform are genuine tickets that have been sold on by the original ticket purchaser in good faith. Viagogo is a marketplace and doesn’t buy or sell tickets. Viagogo provides a platform for third-party sellers to sell tickets to eventgoers. Viagogo does not set ticket prices, sellers set their own prices, which may be above or below the original face value.”

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