Secretary of State Sides with North Carolina Fans Over Ticketmaster, DPAC

04/04/2012

The Fan Freedom Project and our allies scored a win in North Carolina!

In February, we discovered that Ticketmaster and the Durham Performing Arts Center posted notices informing fans — improperly — that they could not resell tickets to specified DPAC events. North Carolina law allows venues to prohibit online ticket resale for more than face value, however it does not allow venues to prohibit resale altogether. In response to this violation of the law, and the basic ownership rights of fans, we filed a letter of complaint with the North Carolina Secretary of State and Attorney General.

The Secretary’s office has since investigated our complaint, and took the side of North Carolina fans! Ticketmaster and the Durham Performing Arts Center have been instructed to change their notices in accordance with North Carolina law.

North Carolina fans pay good money for their tickets, and when work, family, illness or other life events prevent them from attending, they should be able to resell their tickets and recoup their losses. This action from the Secretary of State’s office is a small victory to protect those rights, and we’re happy to have played a part in it.

You can read our original complaint, and the official response from the Secretary of State, below.

Secretary of State Response – DPAC Ticketing

DPAC Ticket Master Complaint