Back at the beginning of the month, the dangerously loyal mercenaries that operate at the behest of Taylor Swift — otherwise known as Swifties — filed a lawsuit against Ticketmaster that alleged "fraud, price-fixing and antitrust violations" in the wake of the Eras Tour ticketing fiasco.
And now, as reported by Pitchfork, a second group of Taylor Swift fans are taking the ticketing behemoth to court, filing a new federal class action lawsuit that alleges the company violated antitrust laws and participated in anticompetitive and misleading conduct.
"Ticketmaster intentionally and purposefully misled millions of fans into believing it would prevent bots and scalpers from participating in the presales," reads the lawsuit, which was filed on Tuesday (December 20). "However, millions of fans were unable to purchase tickets during the TaylorSwiftTix Presale and the Capital One Presale, due in large part to unprecedented website traffic caused by Ticketmaster allowing 14 million unverified Ticketmaster users and a 'staggering' number of bots to participate in the presales."
The 26 plaintiffs also allege that Ticketmaster and its parent company, Live Nation Entertainment, Inc., engaged in fraud, price fixing, false advertising and "intentional misrepresentation," in addition to the antitrust violations.
"By allowing primary ticket purchasers to resell tickets during the TaylorSwiftTix Presale, Ticketmaster represented that these tickets were being sold according to the face value prices negotiated by Taylor Swift Management when they were not," the lawsuit says.
The Swifties are seeking a civil fine of $2,500 per violation, in addition to coverage of the costs of attorneys' fees and other legal fees.
And now, as reported by Pitchfork, a second group of Taylor Swift fans are taking the ticketing behemoth to court, filing a new federal class action lawsuit that alleges the company violated antitrust laws and participated in anticompetitive and misleading conduct.
"Ticketmaster intentionally and purposefully misled millions of fans into believing it would prevent bots and scalpers from participating in the presales," reads the lawsuit, which was filed on Tuesday (December 20). "However, millions of fans were unable to purchase tickets during the TaylorSwiftTix Presale and the Capital One Presale, due in large part to unprecedented website traffic caused by Ticketmaster allowing 14 million unverified Ticketmaster users and a 'staggering' number of bots to participate in the presales."
The 26 plaintiffs also allege that Ticketmaster and its parent company, Live Nation Entertainment, Inc., engaged in fraud, price fixing, false advertising and "intentional misrepresentation," in addition to the antitrust violations.
"By allowing primary ticket purchasers to resell tickets during the TaylorSwiftTix Presale, Ticketmaster represented that these tickets were being sold according to the face value prices negotiated by Taylor Swift Management when they were not," the lawsuit says.
The Swifties are seeking a civil fine of $2,500 per violation, in addition to coverage of the costs of attorneys' fees and other legal fees.
