Florida Senate - 2024                        COMMITTEE AMENDMENT
       Bill No. SB 204
       
       
       
       
       
       
                                Ì173084-Î173084                         
       
                              LEGISLATIVE ACTION                        
                    Senate             .             House              
                   Comm: TP            .                                
                  12/06/2023           .                                
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       The Committee on Commerce and Tourism (Brodeur) recommended the
       following:
       
    1         Senate Amendment (with title amendment)
    2  
    3         Delete everything after the enacting clause
    4  and insert:
    5         Section 1. Section 542.345, Florida Statutes, is created to
    6  read:
    7         542.345 Covenants not to compete for the sale or the
    8  distribution of event tickets and licenses prohibited.—
    9         (1) The Legislature finds that sole-source contracts for
   10  the sale of tickets and licenses to events located at live
   11  performance venues within this state violate public policy and
   12  harm the public good.
   13         (2) For purposes of this section, the term “live
   14  performance venue” means a stadium, a convention center, an
   15  exhibition hall, an arena, a coliseum, or an auditorium that has
   16  accepted any federal, state, or local taxpayer funds for capital
   17  improvements or operational expenses, including, but not limited
   18  to, funds collected pursuant to a convention development tax
   19  imposed under s. 212.0305 and grants awarded under chapter 288.
   20         (3) A live performance venue may not enter into a sole
   21  source contract or a covenant not to compete with a ticket
   22  selling platform to sell, resell, or distribute tickets and
   23  licenses to events located at the live performance venue.
   24         (4) A live performance venue may not require a performance
   25  artist or other event to market, sell, resell, or distribute
   26  tickets through a single or specific ticket platform.
   27         Section 2. Section 817.358, Florida Statutes, is created,
   28  to read:
   29         817.358 Sale of tickets; disclosures; penalties.—A person
   30  or an entity that offers to sell tickets must disclose in an
   31  easily readable and conspicuous manner the total cost of the
   32  ticket, including all fees that must be paid in order to
   33  purchase the ticket, from the initial time a price is displayed,
   34  and must provide the purchaser an option to view an itemized
   35  list that includes the base price of the ticket and each event
   36  ticket fee before the purchase is made. Disclosures may not be
   37  false or misleading and must be at least as prominent, and in
   38  the same font and size, as the final price. The total cost of
   39  the ticket may increase only for reasonable fees for the
   40  delivery of nonelectronic tickets, which increase must be
   41  disclosed to the purchaser before accepting payment. A person or
   42  an entity who violates this section commits a violation of the
   43  Florida Deceptive and Unfair Trade Practices Act, as established
   44  in ss. 501.201-501.213.
   45         Section 3. Present subsection (6) of section 817.36,
   46  Florida Statutes, is redesignated as subsection (7), a new
   47  subsection (6) is added to that section, and subsection (5) of
   48  that section is amended, to read:
   49         817.36 Resale of tickets.—
   50         (5) A person who intentionally uses or sells software to
   51  circumvent on a ticket seller’s Internet website a security
   52  measure, an access control system, or any other control or
   53  measure that is used to ensure an equitable ticket-buying
   54  process is liable to the state for a civil penalty equal to
   55  treble the amount for which the ticket or tickets were sold. A
   56  person who has knowledge of the intentional use of software in
   57  violation of this subsection must notify the Attorney General.
   58         (6) Other than tickets described in paragraph (1)(a),
   59  paragraph (1)(b), or paragraph (1)(c), it is unlawful to:
   60         (a) Apply a term or condition to, or use technology to
   61  limit the terms and conditions of, resale.
   62         (b) Penalize, discriminate against, or deny access to an
   63  event to a person who purchases or resells a ticket in a manner
   64  authorized by this section.
   65         Section 4. This act shall take effect July 1, 2024.
   66  
   67  ================= T I T L E  A M E N D M E N T ================
   68  And the title is amended as follows:
   69         Delete everything before the enacting clause
   70  and insert:
   71                        A bill to be entitled                      
   72         An act relating to competition for the sale of event
   73         tickets; creating s. 542.345, F.S.; providing
   74         legislative findings; defining the term “live
   75         performance venue”; prohibiting live performance
   76         venues from entering into specified contracts and
   77         covenants and from requiring performance artists or
   78         events to distribute the tickets through specific
   79         ticket platforms; creating s. 817.358, F.S.; requiring
   80         a person or an entity that offers to sell tickets to
   81         make certain disclosures in a specified manner
   82         regarding the price of the ticket, and that the
   83         failure to do so violates the Florida Deceptive and
   84         Fair Trade Practices Act; amending s. 817.36, F.S.;
   85         requiring persons with knowledge of the intentional
   86         use of certain software to circumvent certain security
   87         measures to notify the Attorney General; prohibiting
   88         the application of certain terms and conditions of
   89         resale tickets; prohibiting the denial of access to an
   90         event to certain persons who lawfully purchase or
   91         resell tickets; providing an effective date.