25.30 - Operator prohibitions.

* §  25.30. Operator prohibitions. 1. A ticket is a license, issued by  the operator of a place of entertainment, for admission to the place  of  entertainment  at  the date and time specified on the ticket, subject to  the terms and conditions as specified by the  operator.  Notwithstanding  any  other  provision of law to the contrary, it shall be prohibited for  any operator of a place of entertainment, or operator's agent, to:    (a) restrict by any means the resale of  any  tickets  included  in  a  subscription  or  season ticket package as a condition of purchase, as a  condition to retain such tickets for the duration of the subscription or  season ticket package  agreement,  or  as  a  condition  to  retain  any  contractually  agreed  upon  rights  to  purchase future subscription or  season ticket packages that are otherwise conferred in the  subscription  or season ticket agreement;    (b) deny access to a ticket holder who possesses a resold subscription  or  season ticket to a performance based solely on the grounds that such  ticket has been resold; or    (c) employ a paperless ticketing system unless the consumer  is  given  an  option  to purchase paperless tickets that the consumer can transfer  at any price, and at any time, and without additional fees,  independent  of  the  operator or operator's agent. Notwithstanding the foregoing, an  operator or operator's agent may employ  a  paperless  ticketing  system  that does not allow for independent transferability of paperless tickets  only if the consumer is offered an option at the time of initial sale to  purchase  the  same  tickets  in  some  other form that is transferrable  independent of the operator  or  operator's  agent  including,  but  not  limited  to,  paper  tickets or e-tickets. The established price for any  given ticket shall be the same regardless of the form or transferability  of such ticket. The ability for a ticket to be  transferred  independent  of  the  operator  or  operator's  agent  shall not constitute a special  service for the purpose of imposing a service charge pursuant to section  25.29 of this article.    2. Additionally,  nothing  in  this  article  shall  be  construed  to  prohibit  an  operator  of a place of entertainment from maintaining and  enforcing any policies regarding conduct or behavior at or in connection  with their venue. Further, nothing in this article shall be construed to  prohibit an operator of a place  of  entertainment  or  such  operator's  agent,  from  restricting the resale of tickets that are offered as part  of a targeted promotion, at a discounted price, or for free, to specific  individuals or groups of individuals because  of  their  status  as,  or  membership in, a specific community or group, including, but not limited  to,   persons   with   disabilities,   students,   religious   or  civic  organizations, or persons  demonstrating  economic  hardship;  provided,  however  that  tickets offered promotionally to the general public shall  not be considered as tickets offered to specific individuals  or  groups  of individuals. Any promotional discounted or free tickets for which the  operator  or operator's agent restricts resale must be clearly marked as  such. An operator shall  be  permitted  to  revoke  or  restrict  season  tickets  for reasons relating to violations of venue policies, including  but not limited to, attempts by two or more persons to gain admission to  a single event with both the cancelled tickets originally  issued  to  a  season  ticket  holder  and  those tickets re-issued as part of a resale  transaction, and to the extent the operator may deem necessary  for  the  protection of the safety of patrons or to address fraud or misconduct.    3. No operator or operator's agent shall sell or convey tickets to any  secondary  ticket  reseller  owned  or  controlled  by  the  operator or  operator's agent.    4. The operator or the promoter shall determine  whether  a  seat  for  which  a  ticket  is for sale has an obstructed view, and shall disclosesuch obstruction. If the operator or promoter discloses that a seat  for  which  a  ticket  is  for  sale  has an obstructed view, it shall be the  responsibility  of  the  secondary  ticket  reseller  to  disclose  such  obstruction  upon  the resale of such ticket. Such obstruction shall not  include an obstruction of view caused by a person, or persons, seated in  an adjacent seat, or seats, or occupying an aisle; or an obstruction  of  view  caused  by  an  object  or objects placed upon an adjacent seat or  seats, or in an aisle; or an obstruction of view that is de  minimus  or  transitory in nature.    * NB Repealed May 16, 2011