Ticket resellers to contest Quebec anti-scalping law

Internet ticket resellers in Quebec say they will fight a proposed law aimed at shutting them down.

The province's justice minister, Jean-Marc Fournier, has tabled a bill slated to pass this fall that would make it illegal to resell tickets for concerts and sporting events for more than face value.

But people behind ticket reselling websites say the law is unfair.

Some plan to contest it, said Julius Gray, a lawyer representing online ticket reseller QualityPlusTickets.

"I think my clients are very disappointed, "he said. "They have a legitimate business. It's not anything illegal or illicit."

But not everyone sees it that way.

The artistic director of the Montreal Jazz Festival, André Menard, said Quebec needs to crack down on scalpers.

"It is detrimental to music, it is detrimental to show business in Montreal, creating an artificial value like this on the most desired concerts," he said. "It's just not fair. It is something that I find totally offensive."

Tickets to U.S. singer Prince's upcoming performance at the jazz festival sold out 90 minutes after they went on sale. At face value, the tickets were worth about $200 dollars each.

Now, tickets are popping up online with asking prices as high as $1,000 a pair.

If the anti-scalping law is passed, it will be up to Quebec's Consumer Protection Bureau to enforce it and track down ticket resellers.

Scalpers could face initial fines of up to $100,000.

Jean Jacques Préaux with the Consumer Protection Bureau said the law would be aimed more at internet scalpers than individuals reselling tickets outside concerts or sports events.

Préaux said sites such as billets.ca or qualityplustickets.com are artificially driving up prices.

The union representing musicians in Quebec, L'ADISQ, has been lobbying the government to put a stop to such websites.

It argues that ticket resellers are taking money that should be going to performers.