RRS dips its toes in the legal water over ticketing.

Secondary ticketers face court in test case to establish legal precedent

The Retail Rights Society is to preparing to set a legal precedent by taking a secondary ticketing company to court after it launches a new type of concert ticket later this year.

The revelation comes after the Department for Culture Media and Sport last week published its long-awaited report into ticket touting. The report, which recommended against legislation in the secondary market, stated that "there is uncertainty as to the extent to which [concert tickets'] terms and conditions are enforceable in law".

In its report, the DCMS criticised the Office of Fair Trading for failing to bring test cases to court to establish whether someone who ignores a ticket's terms and conditions is acting unlawfully.

As the market currently stands, there is a strong chance that a promoter's terms and conditions would be ruled as "unfair", since consumers are usually prohibited from transferring or refunding tickets they have bought.

However, RRS chairman-elect Marc Marot says that the organisation is to launch a ticket with a new type of terms and conditions, which would list RRS-approved secondary ticketing companies where the consumer could resell their ticket.

Marot adds that if a secondary ticketing company not approved by the RRS resells the ticket, the RRS will take them to court.