Judge Clears The Way For Class-Action Lawsuit Against Clear Channel

noah | October 26, 2007 11:05 am
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Did you ever buy a concert ticket from a former Clear Channel venue and feel ripped off enough to let your anger simmer until the class-action-lawsuit route was clear? Well, you’re in luck:

A Federal judge in Chicago has paved the way for disgruntled ticket buyers in Los Angeles, Chicago, Boston, New York, and Denver to file class-action lawsuits against the company; the suits allege that the company used its market dominance–its ownership of local venues as well as the radio stations that promoted the shows–to foster an anticompetitive environment and drive up ticket prices. For its part, Clear Channel is claiming that all of these allegations are way out-of-date, because the company spun off its live concert business into Live Nation back in 2005. Still, this news will surely bring a schadenfreude-tinged smile to the faces of anyone who ever boggled at a $47.50 pre-surcharge price for a shed show that wound up underselling its capacity and slashing its less desirable seats to $10, right?

Federal Court Certificates Classes of Ticket Buyers to Clear Channel Rock Concerts in Antitrust Action [BusinessWire]