Roles of Piletilevi and the Organiser
Three contracts will be concluded for the sale of tickets
1. An agency contract will be concluded between the organiser and Piletilevi for the sale of tickets;
2. A contract of sale will be concluded between Piletilevi and the ticket buyer for the sale of a ticket;
3. A contract will be concluded between the organiser and the ticket buyer for attending the event.
The content of the agency contract in this case is mediation of a contract between the organiser and the ticket buyer. Piletilevi is the agent in this contract. The agent acts independently under an agency contract but in the interests of and for the benefit of the mandator (the Organiser) (subsection 670 (1) of the Law of Obligations Act). Therefore, the activities of the agent are limited to the conclusion of contracts but the agent is neither obliged nor able to perform the contracts entered into. Although the agent receives money, it is only entitled to a commission and not to the money it receives from ticket sales, as the agent does not act on its own account.
A contract of sale, the object of which is a ticket, is concluded between Piletilevi and the buyer of the ticket. A ticket is essentially a bearer security (subsection 918 (1) of the Law of Obligations Act) which entitles its holder to attend the event indicated on the ticket. It is necessary to recognise the two aspects of the rights related to securities – real rights and rights of obligation. Firstly, the security itself is the object of the contract of sale. As the object of the contract of sale is not the event being held but the security granting the right to participate in the event, performance of the contract of sale cannot be evaluated by evaluating the event. For example, a ticket as such will meet the requirements even if the event being organised does not correspond to what was advertised (e.g. its artistic level does not correspond to what was advertised) because it is the event that has a shortcoming, not the ticket. The same applies if the event is cancelled. In principle, both situations will provide the buyer of the ticket the basis for withdrawing from the contract but only from the contract concluded with the organiser of the event, because there are shortcomings in the performance of that contract.
Pursuant to subsection 217 (1) of the Law of Obligations Act, things delivered to a purchaser must comply with the contract. In the case of a ticket sales contract, the seller is in breach of the contract only if the ticket sold does not comply with the contractual terms and only the defects of the ticket may be invoked, not a breach in the contract between the buyer of the ticket and the organiser of the event. The fact that the latter contract has not been properly performed is not attributable to the contract of sale of the ticket and breaches of both contracts must be dealt with separately.
The ticket buyer’s claim to attend the event is based on the above-mentioned third contract, which is concluded between the buyer of the ticket and the organiser. This means that the person who bought the ticket has the right to request access to the event and other rights that may arise from, inter alia, the cancellation or postponement of the event, including the right provided for in clause 101 (1) 4) of the Law of Obligations Act to withdraw from or cancel the contract.
Withdrawal from the contract due to cancellation of the event creates additional legal relations. Because withdrawal from the contract on such basis can only take place from the contract between the organiser of the event and the buyer of the ticket, all the rights of the buyer of the ticket that arise from the withdrawal can be enforced against the organiser, including the right to claim a refund from the organiser. Piletilevi can accept applications for withdrawal as an agent but only if the organiser has given the respective order. Money can only be refunded by executing the payment order of the organiser, but the organiser must give the respective order. Piletilevi makes every effort to ensure that money is refunded when events are cancelled, which includes negotiations with organisers to conclude contracts for repurchasing the tickets; however, in some cases, the organiser may refuse to enter into such contract. Refunding the tickets is the obligation of the organiser; therefore, Piletilevi cannot and must not do it at its own expense, but at the expense of the organiser.