Ticketmaster Online-CitySearch Inc. can’t stop another online seller of tickets from entering its Web site to collect basic information about upcoming events, a federal judge ruled.
U.S. District Judge Harry Hupp concluded Ticketmaster Online, which is majority owned by Barry Diller’s USA Networks Inc., has no right to exclude Tickets.com from using Ticketmaster Online’s information on the price, time, date and place of events. Hupp declined Ticketmaster Online’s request for a preliminary injunction against Tickets.com.
Tickets.com is an online clearinghouse that provides information on where tickets to any event can be purchased. It sells tickets through its Web site, and gives computer users details on where to buy tickets from other sources. Tickets.com uses software programs known as “webcrawlers” or “spiders” to gather information from Ticketmaster Online.
Hupp’s decision in favor of Tickets.com contrasts with another reached by a federal judge in a similar case involving eBay Inc. In May, U.S. District Judge Ronald Whyte granted eBay a preliminary injunction that prevents Internet search site Bidder’s Edge from using eBay auction listings to help consumers compare prices.
“These are very significant cases in the world of the Internet,” said Ticketmaster’s attorney, Robert Platt. “Bidder’s Edge and Tickets.com are arguing that the terms and conditions on a Web site can be ignored, and are trying to ignore traditional legal concepts of trespass, contract and copyright law.”
Pasadena-based Ticketmaster Online holds the exclusive right to sell Ticketmaster Corp. tickets over the Internet. Ticketmaster is the largest ticket brokerage business in the country, selling entertainment and sports tickets through a network of 2,900 retail windows, over the telephone and on the Internet.
Hupp declined Aug. 10 to issue the preliminary injunction, saying the odds of Ticketmaster prevailing at trial under its current copyright claim are low.
“I think people will look to this case for some guidance as to what conduct is acceptable and what’s not,” said Tickets.com attorney Daniel R. Harris of Brobeck, Phleger & Harrison.
Ticketmaster and Ticketmaster Online, which filed the lawsuit last year, haven’t decided whether to appeal Hupp’s ruling, said Platt of Manatt, Phelps & Phillips in Los Angeles. No trial date has been set.
Shares of Tickets.com, based in Costa Mesa, fell 6 cents to close at $1.88 on Aug. 15, when the verdict was announced. Shares of Ticketmaster Online rose 81 cents to 24.13 the same day.
