Florida lawsuit over online movie ticket sales
By Pankaj Ladhar of Manos • Alwine P.L.
While the summer blockbuster season is still a ways off, a new drama has emerged in a Florida courtroom. This drama, in the form of a lawsuit may not be very entertaining for either of the parties involved. The commercial litigation involves the Florida-based online movie ticket seller, MovieTicket.com and one of its founding shareholders, the AMC movie theatre chain.
The dispute began with an announcement that AMC had entered into an agreement with Fandango, another online movie ticket seller, to sell tickets to movies at AMC theatres. MovieTicket.com claims that the agreement between AMC and Fandango is a violation of the joint venture agreement between MovieTickets.com and AMC.
These online ticket sellers changed the way that many people go to the movies. From a compute or smart phone its easy to find a movie theatre nearby, see what movies are playing and even view trailers. Importantly depending on the service and the theatre you may even be able to buy your tickets online. This can be particularly useful if there is a possibility that the movie may sell out, or just to avoid a long line at the Cineplex.
It seems like the partnership between AMC and Movietickets.com has been on a rocky road for some time. In 2005 AMC merged with another theatre that was partnered with Fandango. Movietickets.com also contends that AMC used its shareholder status to block potentially lucrative deals including a merger with Fandango.
Source: Reuters News, “Movietickets.com is suing AMC Entertainment for breach of contract in a Florida circuit court, the online ticket seller said Wednesday,” Brent Lang, Feb. 8, 2012