Ticketmaster v. Tickets.com

The website of the plaintiff allows computer users to purchase tickets to various events. On the bottom of the homepage are terms and conditions which prohibit copying for commercial use, but the user does not have to scroll to the bottom of the page to proceed to the page which interests him. The plaintiff also operates a website, but this website provides information as to where and how tickets which it does not sell may be purchased. The defendant copies information from the plaintiff’s website and then places it in its own format on its interior web page. Then when the user clicks the even they are taken directly to the even page of the plaintiff’s, bypassing the terms and conditions.

A motion to dismiss the first claim of copyright infringement was denied because the plaintiff alleges actual copying. A second claim of breach of contracts was issued based on the terms and conditions stating “No deep linking to the site is permitted.” The defendant filed a motion to dismiss.

Whether anyone going beyond the homepage of a website agrees to the terms and conditions set forth on the homepage when the terms are listed at the bottom of the page and it is not required that the user read them to continue.

Motion to dismiss granted with leave to amend in case there are facts showing the defendant’s knowledge of them plus facts showing implied agreement to them.

Putting terms and conditions in the fashion where they are not obviously read, not forced to be read, or easy to miss cannot create a contract with anyone using the website.

Concurrence: This is different from the “shrink wrap license” because it is much more obvious and in fact hard to miss.