Bill H.4276

FILED ON: 1/22/2024

HOUSE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No. 4276

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts

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In the One Hundred and Ninety-Third General Court
(2023-2024)

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An Act to secure while improving fans' tickets.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court assembled, and by the authority of the same, as follows:

SECTION 1. Section 182A of Chapter 140 of the General Laws, as appearing in the 2022 Official Edition, is hereby amended by adding at the end thereof the following 3 paragraphs:-

No person, firm, corporation, or other entity shall employ a paperless ticketing system unless the consumer is given an option at the time of initial sale to purchase the same paperless tickets in transferable form that the consumer can transfer at any price, and at any time, and without additional fees, independently. The established price for any given ticket shall be the same regardless of the form or transferability of such ticket. The ability for a ticket to be transferred independently shall not constitute a special service for the purpose of imposing a service charge subject to section one hundred and eighty-five D. It shall be unlawful to penalize, discriminate against, or deny access to a ticket buyer on the basis that the ticket was transferred or resold, including if the ticket was transferred or resold independent from the initial sale ticketing system.

Notwithstanding the above paragraph, an operator of any such theatrical exhibition, public show or public amusement or exhibition, or such operator’s agent, may offer paperless tickets which do not allow for independent transferability provided that such tickets are included in a membership pass at a discounted price offered by a professional sports organization for seating in venues or stadiums with a fixed capacity of over 19,000 seats that guarantees entry to a specified number of events in a specified time period with seat assignments assigned no more than four hours prior to the commencement of the event and such seat assignment must be variable from game to game and not intended for season ticket holders. Tickets provided under such membership pass may be restricted from being transferred or resold, including through the operator or operators’ agents, and must be clearly marked as such prior to initial offering or sale. Such membership pass shall not mean a subscription or season ticket package offered for sale and shall not result in the sale of more than five per cent of the maximum amount of all seats that will be made available at a venue for a particular event to be sold under this section.

Venue operators, or agents of such operators, may maintain and enforce policies with respect to conduct, behavior, public health and safety, or age at the venue or event; and establish limits on the quantity of tickets that may be purchased.

SECTION 2. Chapter 140 of the General Laws, as so appearing, is hereby amended by striking out section 185A, and inserting in place thereof the following section:-

Section 185A. No person shall engage in the business of reselling, or facilitating a mechanism for two or more parties to participate in the resale of, any ticket or tickets of admission or other evidence of right of entry to any theatrical exhibition, public show or public amusement or exhibition required to be licensed under sections one hundred and eighty-one and one hundred and eighty-two of this chapter or under chapter one hundred and twenty-eight A, whether such business is conducted on or off the premises on which such ticket or other evidence is to be used, without being licensed therefor by the commissioner of the division of occupational licensure, in this and the six following sections called the commissioner. Any operator or manager of a website that serves as a platform to facilitate resale, or resale by way of a competitive bidding process, solely between third parties and does not in any other manner engage in reselling of tickets shall be exempt from said licensing requirements.

A license shall be granted only upon a written application setting forth such information as the commissioner may require. Each license issued under this section shall be in force until the first day of January next after its date, unless sooner revoked. No such license may be transferred or assigned except upon written permission of the commissioner. The sale of a ticket or pass, entitling the holder thereof to admission to any such theatrical exhibition, public show or public amusement or exhibition upon payment either of nothing or a sum less than that demanded of the public generally, shall be deemed to be a resale thereof within the meaning of this section.

No person shall engage in or have any interest, as a stockholder or otherwise, in any such business in the conduct of which is or are resold any ticket or tickets of admission or other evidence or evidences of right of entry to any theatrical exhibition, public show or public amusement or exhibition of which said person is the owner or in which he has any interest, as a stockholder or otherwise.

SECTION 3. Section 185B of said chapter, as so appearing, is hereby amended by adding at the end thereof the following:- If any licensee demonstrates that their business provides a service to facilitate ticket transactions without charging any fees or surcharges above the established face value ticket price, on every transaction, except a reasonable and actual service charge for the delivery of tickets, then the fees for licensing shall be waived.

The applicant for a license shall file with the application a bond in the penal sum of 25,000 dollars, which bond shall be approved by the commissioner. Each such bond shall be conditioned that the obligor will not be guilty of any fraud or extortion, will not violate directly or indirectly any of the provisions of sections one hundred and eighty-five A through one hundred and eighty-five F, inclusive, or any of the provisions of the license provided for in said sections, will comply with the provisions of said sections and will pay all damages occasioned to any person by reason of any misstatement, misrepresentation, fraud or deceit or any unlawful act or omission of such obligor, his or her agents or employees, while acting within the scope of their employment, made, committed or omitted in connection with the provisions of said section in the business conducted under such license or caused by any other violation in carrying on the business for which such license is granted. One or more recoveries or payments upon such bond shall not vitiate the same but such bond shall remain in full force and effect, provided, however, that the aggregate amount of all such recoveries or payments shall not exceed the penal sum thereof. Before the commissioner shall draw upon such bond, the commissioner shall issue a determination in writing which shall include the basis of such action. The commissioner shall notify in writing the licensee of any such determination and shall afford the licensee an opportunity to respond within 20 days of the receipt of such determination. In no event may the bond be drawn upon in less than 25 days after the service of a determination to the licensee. Such written notice may be served by delivery thereof personally to the licensee, or by certified mail to the last known business address of such licensee. Only upon such determination of the commissioner shall moneys be withdrawn from the bond. The commencement of any action or actions against the surety upon any such bond for a sum or sums aggregating or exceeding the amount of such bond shall require a new and additional bond in like amount as the original one, which shall be filed within 30 days after the demand therefor. Failure to file such bond within such period shall constitute cause for the revocation of the license theretofore issued to the licensee upon whom such demand shall have been made.

Any suit or action against the surety on any bond required by the provisions of this section shall be commenced within one year after the cause of action shall have accrued.

SECTION 4. Section 185C of said chapter, as so appearing, is hereby amended by adding at the end thereof the following two paragraphs:-

No person, firm, corporation, or other entity shall utilize or sell ticket purchasing software to purchase tickets. For the purpose of this paragraph, “ticket purchasing software” shall mean any machine, device, computer program or computer software that, on its own or with human assistance, bypasses security measures or access control systems on a retail ticket purchasing platform, or other controls or measures on a retail ticket purchasing platform that assist in implementing a limit on the number of tickets that can be purchased, to purchase tickets. Any person, firm, corporation, or other entity who knowingly utilizes ticket purchasing software in order to purchase tickets shall be subject to a civil penalty in an amount not less than 500 dollars per violation and shall forfeit all profits made from the sale of any such unlawfully obtained tickets. Any person, firm, corporation or other entity who is a licensee who is adjudicated guilty of the following acts may lose their license and may be barred from licensure for a period not to exceed three years if such licensee: (i) knowingly utilized ticket purchasing software in order to purchase tickets; (ii) knowingly resold or offered to resell a ticket that such licensee knew was obtained using ticket purchasing software; or (iii) intentionally maintained any interest in or maintained any control of the operation of ticket purchasing software to purchase tickets.

Any person, firm, corporation, or other entity that has knowledge of the use of ticket purchasing software in violation of this chapter and fails to notify the office of the Attorney General within 30 days shall be subject to a civil penalty in the amount of 500 dollars per violation.

SECTION 5. Section 185D of said chapter, as so appearing, is hereby amended by striking out the first paragraph, and inserting in place thereof the following:-

Section 185D. No licensee under section one hundred and eighty-five A shall sell tickets, facilitate the sale, resell, or facilitate the resale of, any ticket or other evidence of right of entry to any theatrical exhibition, public show or public amusement or exhibition of any description without a guarantee to each purchaser of such sold or resold tickets that they will provide a full refund of the amount paid by the purchaser, including, but not limited to all service charges if any of the following occurs: (i) the event for which such ticket has been sold or resold is cancelled; (ii) the ticket received by the purchaser does not grant the purchaser admission to the event described on the ticket; (iii) the ticket was not delivered to the purchaser prior to the occurrence of the event, unless such failure of delivery was due to an act or omission of the purchaser; or (iv) the ticket fails to conform to its description as advertised unless the purchaser has pre-approved a substitution of tickets. Provision of a replacement ticket to the same event that is in a comparable location, where applicable, and at no additional cost to the consumer, shall be considered providing a full refund for the purposes of this chapter.

A licensee shall disclose in a clear and conspicuous manner the portion of the ticket price stated in dollars that represents a service charge, or any other fee or surcharge to the purchaser. Such a disclosure of the total cost and fees shall be displayed in the ticket listing prior to the ticket being selected for purchase. Disclosures of subtotals, fees, charges, and any other component of the total price shall not be false or misleading and may not be presented more prominently or in the same or larger size as the total price. The price of the ticket shall not increase during the purchase process, excluding reasonable fees for delivery of non-electronic tickets based on the delivery method selected by the purchaser, which shall be disclosed prior to accepting payment therefor.

For the purpose of this section, service charges are defined as costs incurred by said licensee related solely to the procuring and selling of such ticket or other evidence of right of entry and not related to the general business operation of said licensee. Service charges include, but are not limited to, charges for messengers, postage, and long distance telephone calls, extensions of credit and costs attributable thereto.

SECTION 6. Section 185E of said chapter, as so appearing, is hereby amended by inserting after the second sentence, the following new sentence:- A licensee shall keep full and accurate sets of records showing: (i) the prices at which all tickets have been bought and sold by such licensee; and (ii) the names and addresses of the person, firm or corporation from whom they were bought.