MTV, Ticketmaster sued by local company

Alex Coolman

COSTA MESA -- A local ticket sales company fired another volley in its

ongoing war with industry giant Ticketmaster on Thursday, suing the

company for monopolistic and unfair trade practices.

Declaring itself engaged in a battle for “everything that free enterprise

stands for in this country,” ETM Entertainment Network, a Costa

Mesa-based live event ticketing distribution company, filed suit in U.S.

District Court against Ticketmaster, a subsidiary of USA Networks Inc.,

Ticketmaster Online City-Search and MTV.

The suit charges that Ticketmaster and MTV have been selling tickets to a

May concert by the rock band Red Hot Chili Peppers at the Bi-Lo Center in

Greenville, S.C., a venue of which ETM holds exclusive ticketing rights.

The suit also names Q Prime, Inc., the management company for the band.

ETM president and co-founder Peter Schniedermeier said Ticketmaster and

MTV sold tickets and collected service charges for the Bi-Lo show over a

Web site, in violation of ETM’s exclusive ticketing arrangement with the

venue.

“We’ve sent them cease and desist letters, as did the venue, and they

chose to go forward anyway,” Schniedermeier said. “They know full well

that this building is our building.”

A spokesperson for Ticketmaster declined to comment. However, the Web

site for MTV, which had been selling tickets to the show, posted a new

announcement Friday night regarding the Bi-Lo concert.

“Not available due to contractual restrictions,” the announcement said.

Bennet Kelley, vice president and general counsel for ETM, said he found

the Web site development encouraging, but planned to keep the pressure on

Ticketmaster.

“We intend to pursue litigation until we can ensure that we’re safe from

these practices in the future,” Kelley said.

ETM, the second-largest live event ticketing company in the nation, was

pitted against Ticketmaster in 1995 when the rock band Pearl Jam used its

services to schedule a non-Ticketmaster tour.

Pearl Jam hoped to save its audiences from paying Ticketmaster’s shipping

and service fees, which can be significant.

The band’s promoters had considerable difficulty carrying out such a

tour, however, and Pearl Jam eventually performed at some venues whose

tickets were sold by Ticketmaster.