Chae Hwi-young, Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism, speaks at a meeting held in central Seoul on Aug. 28. MINISTRY OF CULTURE, SPORTS AND TOURISM
Starting Friday, anyone who scalps tickets for performances or sporting events can face an administrative fine of up to 50 times the ticket price. People who report ticket scalpers may receive a reward of up to 50 percent of the fine imposed.
The revisions to the enforcement decrees of the Public Performance Act and the National Sports Promotion Act were approved by the Cabinet on Aug. 18 and took effect on Friday, according to the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism.
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Under the revisions, people who purchase tickets for resale, which is deemed an illegal purchase, or sell them at a markup, which is also deemed an illegal sale, can face up to one year in prison or a fine of up to 10 million won ($7,300). Administrative fines can range from two to 50 times the amount the tickets were sold for. Money or profits obtained through the violations may also be confiscated or forfeited.
Existing regulations prohibited only the resale of tickets purchased using automated programs, otherwise known as macros. The revisions make ticket scalping punishable regardless of whether a macro program was used.
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Transfers within reasonable bounds, such as giving a ticket to a family member at or below its original purchase price, do not constitute illegal sales, the Culture Ministry said.
Standards for rewards for reporting violations were also specified. A person who reports an illegal ticket purchase may receive up to 50 percent of the administrative fine imposed on the violator, capped at 50 million won.
The revisions, however, leave loopholes for movies and tickets for celebrity meet-and-greets, which are not covered by the new rules. Tickets for IMAX screenings of the film ¡°The Odyssey,¡± for example, are currently being resold on secondhand marketplaces for several times their original prices, but there is no legal basis for penalizing such sales.
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¡°We will swiftly pursue a legal revision to prevent ticket scalping for movies as part of our commitment to actively combat scalping,¡± Culture Minister Chae Hwi-young said Friday at an interagency inspection meeting he chaired at the Seoul branch of the National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art as the revisions took effect.
The Promotion of the Motion Pictures and Video Products Act is therefore expected to be revised soon.
Tickets to meet-and-greet events are also excluded from the revisions because they do not qualify as performances under the Public Performance Act. The law defines a performance as the act of presenting artistic content to the public through a live performance and excludes performances that accompany the sale or promotion of products.
BY JEONG EUN-HYE []
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