COMMITMENTS AND CONTINGENT LIABILITIES |
9 Months Ended |
|---|---|
Sep. 30, 2017 | |
| Commitments and Contingencies Disclosure [Abstract] | |
| Commitments and Contingencies Disclosure [Text Block] |
COMMITMENTS AND CONTINGENT LIABILITIES
In December 2015, a company called Songkick filed an antitrust lawsuit against Live Nation and Ticketmaster L.L.C. in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California. The suit alleged, among other complaints, that the defendants monopolized certain markets and engaged in certain exclusionary and anticompetitive conduct, ultimately causing harm to Songkick in a product market that it refers to as “artist presale ticketing services.” In the spring of 2016, Live Nation and Ticketmaster L.L.C. prevailed in a partial motion to dismiss, and shortly thereafter asserted counterclaims against Songkick, alleging that Songkick tortiously interfered with Ticketmaster’s venue contracts. In February 2017, Songkick filed an amended complaint, adding claims of trade secret misappropriation, statutory violations and related causes of action, arising from certain alleged conduct by a former Songkick employee who had gone to work for Ticketmaster.
In October 2017, the Court granted in part Live Nation’s motion to prevent Songkick’s damages expert from testifying, but declined to grant Live Nation’s motion for summary judgement. Following those rulings, Songkick is solely left with an antitrust claim (subject to treble damages) for lost profits, tort claims seeking the same lost profits, and a claim for unjust enrichment damages arising from alleged trade secret misappropriation. Trial has been set for January 2018. While the Company remains confident in its case and does not believe that a loss is probable of occurring at this time, if the Company is ultimately unsuccessful on any or all claims, the amounts at stake could be material. The Company is currently unable to estimate the possible loss or range of loss for this matter because of the uncertainty regarding the outcome of the claims and damages asserted against the Company.
|