Photo Credit: Yvette de Wit
Live Nation files a motion to delay the impending antitrust trial so an appeals court can consider two particular legal questions surrounding the case.
On Sunday, Live Nation and Ticketmaster filed a motion to delay the start of proceedings in the U.S. government’s antitrust trial in order to have an appeals court determine whether two legal questions would “dramatically change” the impending trial. The move comes just a week before the trial is scheduled to kick off, with jury selection expected to begin on March 2.
Live Nation’s motion asks for an interlocutory appeal to review two “critical questions of law” as determined by Judge Arun Subramanian last week. According to Live Nation and Ticketmaster, they seek such a review before proceedings begin to avoid a “complex, month-long case” that could “prove wholly unnecessary.”
Judge Subramanian removed some portions of the suit in a ruling last Wednesday, but allowed the most pertinent ones to proceed to trial, which could have a load-bearing impact on the ticketing industry.
Specifically, Live Nation’s motion asks the appeals court to consider Judge Subramanian’s decision that the Department of Justice does “not need evidence of actual price discrimination to prove their alleged targeted customer markets in this actual monopolization case.”
It also asks to consider whether the DOJ could “proceed with a tying claim without a properly defined market for the tied product” to constitute monopolization. According to Live Nation, if the court finds either question valid for appeal, it should stay further proceedings until the resolution of that appeal.
In short, it’s a convenient last-ditch effort to potentially delay the trial amid Live Nation’s alleged bid to cut a deal with the DOJ.
Following the judge’s ruling last week, Live Nation’s top attorney authored a blog post urging the DOJ to settle the suit. Notably, after publishing the post and ensuring the press knew about it, Live Nation took it down over the weekend.
“The claim that Live Nation and Ticketmaster are responsible for high concert ticket prices and fees was, and is, false,” wrote Dan Wall, EVP of Corporate and Regulatory Affairs. “But the bigger fiction was that this case could or should result in a court order breaking up Live Nation and Ticketmaster. We’ve always said that was implausible and improper, and [the court’s] summary judgment decision should put that false promise to rest.”
Meanwhile, Live Nation also reported its year-end earnings last week, delivering its biggest year for global ticket sales to date.
