Lawsuit challenging Ticketmaster's fee practices given green light by Quebec court
The complaint argues that the ticketing platform's pricing model is “excessive and unreasonable”
A class action lawsuit against Ticketmaster claiming that its pricing model is “excessive and unreasonable” has been cleared to proceed by a Quebec court.
According to Music Business Worldwide (MBW), the complaint argues that the ticketing giant’s fee practices breach Quebec’s Consumer Protection Act and Civil Code, claiming that fees fluctuate depending on ticket prices, rather than the actual services provided.
On January 7, Quebec Superior Court Justice Eleni Yiannakis green-lighted the class action lawsuit to proceed to trial after it was first filed in August 2024 by a Montreal law firm.
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The suit claims that Ticketmaster’s pricing model is “excessive, unreasonable, abusive and disproportionate”, per MBW, and is led by immigration lawyer Felipe Morales who allegedly personally encountered “damages” suffered because of Ticketmaster.
The complaint claims that it’s “reasonable to infer that the Main Class and the Consumer Class are composed of thousands of persons and that the Plaintiff is certainly not the only person to have suffered damages caused by the Defendants’ fault in this matter.”
Speaking to Billboard Canada, a Ticketmaster spokesperson argued that its ticket fees are split between the venue and Ticketmaster, covering “essential costs” like staff and “anti-fraud technology”.
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“Ticketmaster‘s share of service fees is typically around 5-7% of the total ticket price,” they claimed. “We believe the most fair and transparent approach is showing fans the total cost upfront, which we’ve done in Canada since 2018.”
In November, Ticketmaster and its parent company Live Nation faced legal action over the use of rotating barcode technology on its SafeTix platform, with claims that it infringed on its patent for rotating barcodes to stop users fraudulently screenshotting tickets.
Several months earlier in September, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) in the US said it was suing Ticketmaster and Live Nation alongside seven states, accusing the companies of utilising illegal ticket resale tactics.
Gemma Ross is Mixmag's Associate Digital Editor, follow her on X
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