The football governing body says that by acting as a broker for resold Euro 2016 tickets, Viagogo is breaking a law that says tickets can only be sold by Uefa
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BDKV secures judgment against reseller Ticketbande
Victory in a case brought by the German promoters' association sees Ticketbande forbidden from touting tickets originally sold with a resale prohibition clause
By IQ on 29 Jan 2019
image © BDKV
Newly formed German promoters’ association BDKV has won a legal victory against Ticketbande, a leading secondary ticketing site, securing a judgment that prevents its listing tickets where resale is prohibited by the promoter.
The BDKV (Federal Association of the Concert and Event Industry), formed in November by the merger of BDV and VDKD, launched its Nein zum Ticketschwarzmarkt (No to the Ticket Black Market) campaign in August, pushing for a price cap of 25% above face value for secondary market tickets.
In a ruling on 21 January, the regional court of Hanover agreed with the association’s assertion that any further mark-up is anti-competitive, and forbade Ticketbande from reselling tickets where the T&Cs prohibit it, and where there is a “blank line for the name of the ticket purchaser to be filled in” (ie a named ticket).
“The verdict finally eliminates a crucial grey area in ticket sales,” says Johannes Ulbricht (pictured), BDKV’s lawyer. “It brings event organisers a great step further in the fight against the commercial secondary market ticketing trade.”
“The verdict finally eliminates a crucial grey area in ticket sales”
The court additionally rejected Ticketbande’s protests that the partial resale ban would be ineffective at stopping unauthorised ticket touting, according to BDKV.
“It is also crucial that the secondary market ticket platform is fully liable in the event of a breach of the resale prohibition, and cannot claim a fault on the seller’s part,” adds Dr Ulbricht.
The judgment follows similar legal victories for Rammstein and promoter MCT-Agentur, and Ed Sheeran and FKP Scorpio, which prohibit Viagogo from reselling tickets for their upcoming German dates.
According to the International Ticketing Yearbook 2018, Ticketbande is one of four main ticket resellers in Germany, along with StubHub, Viagogo and Eventim’s price-capped fanSALE platform.
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