STATE OF NEW YORK ________________________________________________________________________ 8245--A 2017-2018 Regular Sessions IN ASSEMBLY June 2, 2017 ___________ Introduced by M. of A. O'DONNELL, SEPULVEDA, FAHY -- read once and referred to the Committee on Tourism, Parks, Arts and Sports Develop- ment -- reported and referred to the Committee on Codes -- recommitted to the Committee on Codes in accordance with Assembly Rule 3, sec. 2 -- committee discharged, bill amended, ordered reprinted as amended and recommitted to said committee AN ACT to amend the arts and cultural affairs law, in relation to the sale of tickets to places of entertainment The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem- bly, do enact as follows: 1 Section 1. Section 25.13 of the arts and cultural affairs law is 2 amended by adding a new subdivision 2-a to read as follows: 3 2-a. It shall be unlawful for a licensee or other ticket reseller to 4 contract for the sale of tickets or accept consideration for payment in 5 full or for a deposit for the sale of tickets unless such licensee or 6 other ticket reseller meets one or more of the following requirements: 7 (a) such licensee or other ticket reseller has the ticket in its 8 possession; 9 (b) such licensee or other ticket reseller has a written contract to 10 obtain the offered ticket at a certain price from a person in possession 11 of the ticket or from a person who has a contractual right to obtain 12 such ticket; or 13 (c) such licensee or other ticket reseller informs the purchaser in 14 writing at the time of the contract or receipt of consideration, which- 15 ever is earlier, that such licensee or other ticket reseller does not 16 have possession of the tickets, has no contract to obtain the offered 17 ticket at a certain price from a person in possession of the ticket or 18 from a person who has a contractual right to obtain such ticket, and may 19 not be able to supply the ticket at the contracted price or range of 20 prices. EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets [] is old law to be omitted. LBD11767-10-8

A. 8245--A 2 1 Nothing in this section shall prohibit a licensee or other ticket 2 reseller from accepting a deposit from a prospective purchaser as part 3 of an agreement that such licensee or other ticket reseller will make 4 best efforts to obtain a ticket at a specified price or price range and 5 within a specified time, provided that such licensee or other ticket 6 reseller informs the purchaser in writing at the time of the contract or 7 receipt of consideration, whichever is earlier, of the terms of the 8 deposit agreement, and includes in the written notice the disclosures 9 otherwise required by this section. If a licensee or ticket reseller has 10 entered into a contract with or received consideration from a prospec- 11 tive purchaser for the sale of a ticket or tickets and cannot supply 12 such ticket or tickets at the contracted price or price range, such 13 licensee or ticket reseller shall refund any monies paid by such 14 prospective purchaser within five business days thereafter. 15 § 2. Section 25.23 of the arts and cultural affairs law, as amended by 16 chapter 106 of the laws of 2005, is amended to read as follows: 17 § 25.23. Posting of price lists; information to purchaser. 1. In 18 every principal office or branch office, bureau, agency or sub-agency of 19 any licensee under this article, there shall be conspicuously posted and 20 at all times displayed a price list showing the established price 21 charged by the operator of the place of entertainment for which a ticket 22 is being sold by such licensee, together with the price being charged by 23 such licensee for the resale of such ticket, so that all persons visit- 24 ing such place may readily see the same. The licensee shall also on 25 request furnish each purchaser of a ticket with a receipt showing the 26 same information. Further, if the licensee conducts business through the 27 use of the internet, the same price list, or hyperlink to the same, 28 shall be conspicuously displayed on the internet page on which tickets 29 are accessed. In addition the licensee shall publish in a conspicuous 30 place, or hyperlink to on the internet a statement clearly detailing the 31 required guarantees required by section 25.07 of this article. 32 2. Any operator or manager of a website or other electronic service 33 that serves as a platform to facilitate resale, or resale by way of a 34 competitive bidding process, shall post a clear and conspicuous notice 35 on such website when the website is being used for the secondary sale of 36 a ticket. 37 3. Any operator or manager of a website or other electronic service 38 that serves as a platform to facilitate resale, or resale by way of a 39 competitive bidding process, shall provide on such platform a place 40 where licensees and those doing business as ticket resellers must post 41 their license or certificate issued pursuant to this article, or a 42 hyperlink that allows for viewing such posting. 43 § 3. Section 25.24 of the arts and cultural affairs law is amended by 44 adding a new subdivision 10 to read as follows: 45 10. Any person, firm, corporation or other entity who is a licensee 46 under this article who is adjudicated guilty of the following acts shall 47 lose their license and will be barred from licensure under this article 48 for a period not to exceed three years to be determined by the depart- 49 ment of state pursuant to section 25.31 of this article if such licen- 50 see: (a) knowingly utilized ticket purchasing software in order to 51 purchase tickets; (b) knowingly resold or offered to resell a ticket 52 that such licensee knew was obtained using ticket purchasing software; 53 or (c) intentionally maintained any interest in or maintained any 54 control of the operation of ticket purchasing software to purchase tick- 55 ets.

A. 8245--A 3 1 § 4. Section 25.07 of the arts and cultural affairs law is amended by 2 adding a new subdivision 4 to read as follows: 3 4. Every operator of a place or entertainment, any licensee or other 4 ticket reseller shall disclose in a clear and conspicuous manner the 5 total price of the ticket and the portion of the ticket price stated in 6 dollars that represents a service charge, or any other fee or surcharge 7 prior to accepting payment therefor. 8 § 5. Paragraph (c) of subdivision 1 of section 25.30 of the arts and 9 cultural affairs law, as added by chapter 151 of the laws of 2010, is 10 amended to read as follows: 11 (c) except as provided in this paragraph, employ a paperless ticketing 12 system unless the consumer is given an option to purchase paperless 13 tickets that the consumer can transfer at any price, and at any time, 14 and without additional fees, independent of the operator or operator's 15 agent. Notwithstanding the foregoing, an operator or operator's agent 16 may employ a paperless ticketing system that does not allow for inde- 17 pendent transferability of paperless tickets for up to twenty percent of 18 all seats available at a venue; provided, however, that such operator or 19 the operator's agent shall provide a refund in full of all monies paid 20 by purchasers of such paperless tickets up to fourteen days in advance 21 of the ticketed event if such purchasers so request. For the other 22 eighty percent of all available tickets in a venue, an operator or oper- 23 ator's agent may employ a paperless ticketing system that does not allow 24 for independent transferability only if the consumer is offered an 25 option at the time of initial sale to purchase the same tickets in some 26 other form that is transferable independent of the operator or opera- 27 tor's agent including, but not limited to, paper tickets or e-tickets. 28 The established price for any given ticket shall be the same regardless 29 of the form or transferability of such ticket. The ability for a ticket 30 to be transferred independent of the operator or operator's agent shall 31 not constitute a special service for the purpose of imposing a service 32 charge pursuant to section 25.29 of this article. 33 § 6. Section 25.30 of the arts and cultural affairs law is amended by 34 adding a new subdivision 5 to read as follows: 35 5. No operator or its agent shall transfer a prospective ticket 36 purchaser through any means to a licensee or secondary ticket reseller 37 without providing a clear and conspicuous disclosure that informs the 38 prospective purchaser that the ticket is not being offered by the opera- 39 tor or its agent, but rather by a licensee or other ticket reseller in 40 the secondary market. 41 § 7. This act shall take effect on the one hundred eightieth day after 42 it shall have become a law; provided, however, the amendments to article 43 25 of the arts and cultural affairs law made by sections one, two, four, 44 five and six of this act shall not affect the repeal of such article and 45 shall be deemed repealed therewith.