Coachella producers have rightfully become fed up with the reputation damage scalpers are inflicting upon their festival’s image and have decided to hit suspected scalpers with a federal lawsuit. This is only the third time since its inception that the festival has decided to defend their trademark and as such, this legal battle might end up getting in-tents.
Legal action by Coachella was triggered when Los Angeles based marketing firm, Particle, LLC‘s owner Denise Kozlowski sent out a mass email to her clients advertising short-term hotel rentals for the two Coachella weekends, as well as stating:
“I also have VIP, Guest and Artist passes for sale. Please inquire for more details”.
The suit accuses Particle and its owner of buying and reselling Coachella wristbands, which are strictly non-transferable, and “infringing on the festival’s trademark because it uses the Coachella name when advertising the short-term rentals in La Quinta”, according to Desert Sun.
Although scalping may or may not be ethically acceptable for you, it’s nice to see that Coachella actually cares about their festival goers and the reputation of their events. It is currently unknown how legitimate and void wristbands will be differentiated, but anyone caught using a scalped wristband has a serious chance of getting ejected from the event, or outright denied entry.
“Money damages cannot fully repair the damage that will be done to (Coachella’s) reputation and goodwill if it must turn away would-be festival attendees because they have unwittingly purchased void passes from defendants,” states the Coachella lawsuit.
Better play it safe and buy from authorized vendors, than sorry. Especially when you’re dealing with the high monetary costs of attending music festivals these days. Or just ‘yolo’ it and buy last minute off of Craigslist and pray to the festival gods that you get in, it’s ultimately up to you.
Via Desert Sun
