Law

The UK government has published a response to the Competition and Markets Authority’s (CMA) recommendations on secondary ticketing, ruling out legislative changes for the time being. 

The CMA called for stronger laws to tackle illegal ticket reselling in August 2021, publishing a comprehensive report on the secondary market. 

The authority called for changes including a ban on platforms allowing resellers to sell more tickets than they are legally allowed to buy from the primary market, holding platforms accountable for incorrect information about tickets listed on their websites and a new licencing system for platforms that sell secondary tickets.

The UK government’s response, penned by MP Kevin Hollinrake, Parliamentary Under Secretary of State within the Department of Business and Trade, formally rejects the proposals.

“The government believes in the power of competitive markets to give consumers choice and flexibility,” Hollinrake’s response said. 

“This applies to both the primary and secondary markets in event tickets. Consumers should have the ability to sell on tickets they no longer want or able to use and therefore need a market for resale.”

The government response cited the “massive disruption” to the event industry caused by the Covid-19 pandemic as hindering a detailed assessment of the impact of current trading standards and CMA enforcement work.

It also stressed the responsibility of buyers to make careful decisions when purchasing tickets from the secondary market.

The response said that it is “too soon” to establish whether futher legislation focused on the secondary ticket market is “the only way forward”, concluding that “to propose further legislation in the sector at this stage is not yet appropriate or justified by the available evidence”.

It added that improvements to other aspects of consumer law, published in response to the 2021 consultation, would be the government’s priority in the immediate future, “rather than changes to the secondary ticketing regime specifically”.
 

A petition to save the O2 Academy Brixton from permanent closure has topped 50,000 signatures. 

The venue’s licence was suspended after two people died during a crush outside the building ahead of a performance by singer Asake in December last year. Eight others were hospitalised.

The petition was started after the Met Police said it was seeking for the licence to be permanently revoked.

Created by Stuart O’Brien and directed to Lambeth Council, it said that the venue’s closure would result in “another part of the musical landscape and history” being “lost forever”.

It suggested means of ensuring that the tragedy wasn’t repeated, including revoking the security firm’s licence and bringing in security recommended by police.

The petition has been supported by musicians and bands including The Chemical Brothers and Garbage, the BBC reported.

“Brixton Academy is such an important and historic venue for south London and live music,” tweeted Primal Scream's bassist Simone Butler. “There is a police station literally opposite, surely with new management / infrastructure + security it can be improved? Instead of just shutting it down?”

The licence application is currently in a consultation period, after which a decision will be made at a council sub-committee.

In the weeks following the crush, concerns had been raised over the strength of the venue’s doors, as well as staffing levels.

The medical cover provider confirmed recently that no paramedics or nurses were present and only five people were working when the crush occurred.

Industry guidelines recommend twice the number of medical staff, including a paramedic and a nurse.

Academy Music Group (AMG), which runs the venue, said that it had co-operated fully with the police and Lambeth Council and had presented “detailed proposals that we believe will enable the venue to reopen safely”.

The group is currently awaiting feedback on its proposals, it added.
 

A union is urging backstage theatre workers to check their contracts for clauses that prevent them talking about their rates of pay.

Bectu said many backstage theatre contracts include such clauses, which aim to keep terms and wages confidential.

The union believes the clauses should not be included and may be used to hide unfair pay practices.

It said The Equality Act 2010, and in particular Section 77, protects "the right that employees can legally discuss their work pay with colleagues".

The legislation states that employers "should not discipline anyone for discussing their work pay" and "should not include clauses in employee contracts that prevent workers from talking about pay".

The union stressed that the law only protects employees when discussing pay for the purpose of establishing an unfair pay issue in a workplace.

Bectu Assistant National Secretary Helen Ryan said: “It’s no secret that low pay is one of the core issues driving the chronic skills shortage in the UK theatre sector.

"We want to help implement pay consistency across the industry so it’s imperative that workers aren’t wrongfully bound by clauses that prevent them from discussing their pay, or allow for disciplinary action for doing so."

She added: “Productions we have spoken to about this have overwhelmingly responded positively and removed the clause, which we hope will encourage people to call out these clauses when they see them."

The Artists’ Collecting Society (ACS) and Design and Artists Copyright Society (DACS) have settled a legal dispute with multi-millionaire art dealer Ivor Braka.

The two collection societies commenced legal proceedings against Braka last March over unpaid resale royalties.

The case was the first of their kind brought under the Artist’s Resale Right Regulations in the UK.

A statement released on Tuesday (14 February) said the three parties had reached a settlement and now "look forward to working together to provide artists with the royalties to which they are entitled".

A DACS spokesperson told Arts Professional that as the agreement is subject to confidentiality provisions, details on what the settlement entailed were not available.