By Jody Godoy
(Reuters) - Live Nation Entertainment (NYSE:LYV) has asked a federal judge in New York to dismiss several states' claims that the live event promoter harmed event-goers by stifling competition with its ticket-selling arm, Ticketmaster.
Live Nation seeks to dismiss part of the lawsuit the U.S. Department of Justice and a coalition of states filed in May. Prosecutors seek to break up Live Nation and argue the concert promoter and Ticketmaster illegally inflated concert ticket prices and hurt artists.
Last month, several states joined the lawsuit, taking the total up to 39 states and the District of Columbia. Two thirds of them also added claims seeking triple damages on behalf of event-goers in their states.
Live Nation asked for those claims to be dismissed late Wednesday, saying the allegations that it used threats, retaliation and long-term contracts to prevent concert venues from using rival ticketing services "have almost nothing to do with consumers or the ticketing fees they pay."
"The premise of their claim appears to be that in a world in which their marginal costs went down, venues would respond by gratuitously reducing prices for consumers rather than pocketing the incremental profit," the company said.
Live Nation also urged U.S. District Judge Arun Subramanian in Manhattan to dismiss a claim that it locks artists into using its concert promoting services to book venues that it owns, saying the law does not require it to let rival concert promoters rent its amphitheaters.
(This story has been corrected to fix the day of Live Nation's request to Wednesday, not Thursday, in paragraph 4)