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- Passed the production: the creators of sites-mirrors for theatergoers will face trial
Passed the production: the creators of sites-mirrors for theatergoers will face trial
A group of fraudsters who have become leaders in the market of lookalike websites have been uncovered in Russia. They are expected in court in a month's time. The criminals created dozens of "mirror" pages, deceiving thousands of theatergoers. Obraztsov Theater was able to independently identify them. Izvestia" analyzed how not to become a victim of swindlers, buying tickets for performances and shows, especially before the New Year, when the demand for performances increased by 70% compared to last year, and speculators became more active.
How the Puppet Theater caught fraudsters
Buying tickets for a performance or a show has become a real quest for attention. Speculators create sites-doppelgangers, which are difficult to distinguish from the real ones. Numerous victims of fraudsters write complaints to the Ministry of Culture, Roskomnadzor, and the police. The Obraztsov Puppet Theater decided not to wait for the overbidders to be caught and punished, the directorate itself identified the swindler.
- Of course, it is necessary to prove the belonging of the site-doppelganger to a particular legal entity. But not always such information is in the public domain, - told "Izvestia" director of the Obraztsov Puppet Theater Elena Bulukova. - An option in such a situation is to carry out a control purchase of tickets in order to obtain the details of the organization that is engaged in their illegal distribution.
The theater purchased tickets for its own performances on the sites-doppelgangers and, having compared the output data, found out that in all cases the same organization is engaged in illegal distribution. The scale of activity is huge - dozens of "doubles".
According to Bulukova, the theater should apply to the authorized bodies to initiate administrative proceedings against such illegal distributors and bring them to responsibility. The punishment will be a fine of up to five times the cost of one ticket. Speculators only laugh at such sanctions.
Building of the Sergei Obraztsov Puppet Theater
Obraztsov Theater did something different, playing on the "improved" quality of twin sites. The thing is that earlier on speculators' Internet platforms there was only a playbill with the name of the production and a button "buy a ticket", but now fraudsters hire designers who create a page that almost exactly copies the official site of the cultural institution. Administrators fill it with content - photos of the performance, actors involved in it. On the left platforms they sell tickets for both scarce performances and not so demanded ones. They publish the address and information on how to get to the theater. The cost of creating such doubles justifies itself - neophytes are led to a filled site.
- We drew attention to the fact that fraudsters use the intellectual property of the theater without obtaining the rights to such activities, - explained Elena Bulukova. - Intellectual property may include photos, descriptions of performances, artwork, the trademark of the theater. In such a case we can demand not only a minor fine, but even compensation in accordance with the procedure provided for by civil law. This method of influence is promising and effective, as it allows not just to block the resource (it is not so difficult to create a new one), but to bring to concrete material responsibility.
Lawyers of the theater filed a lawsuit in court for compensation for damages due to the use of intellectual property. The first hearing is scheduled for December. "Izvestia" will continue to follow the process.
Grow like mushrooms
According to the administration of the Maly Theater, they have repeatedly received verbal appeals from citizens who used fake websites to purchase tickets.
- The main controversial issues have arisen when replacing or canceling our performances and refunding the cost of purchased tickets, - said in the Maly management. - Conflict situations are regulated by the administration of the theater on the basis of its capabilities. GAMT of Russia has not appealed to law enforcement authorities, due to the lack of evidence, as representatives of the sites-repurchasers purchase tickets through the website of the Maly Theater.
Monument to writer Alexander Ostrovsky near the Maly Theater building
The unsuccessful attempt to identify and punish ticket speculators was also reported to Izvestia by the Nikulin Circus on Tsvetnoy Boulevard.
- It's useless to fight with websites-doppelgangers, as well as with resellers," says Yuri Nikulin, head of the circus press service. - As far as I know, no one has come up with a working mechanism yet. We have never had a single claim go to court, as the sites are immediately removed or renamed. Sanctions can't be applied to them either - there is no one to apply them to.
According to him, the circus unsuccessfully tries to punish those who use its logos.
- The swindlers receive a letter about copyright and trademark infringement. But in response, the site simply disappears from the Internet space. It's impossible to find them. They're like mushrooms. One disappeared and two similar ones appeared," says Nikulin.
It didn't take long to find doubles of the Nikulin Circus site. Dozens of resources offer tickets. Those that pop up first in the search engine are an exact copy of the original.
Inspired by the example of the Obraztsov Theater, Izvestia also decided to identify the owners of sites speculating on tickets. One of the brightest theater premieres - "Hamlet" with Anton Shagin in the title role in Mark Zakharov's Lenkom. Tickets for the performance are sold out for a month in advance. For the New Year's Eve performance on December 27, the official website of the theater had only three passes: the 3rd seat in the 4th row of the parterre for Br13.5 thousand, 4th row 20th seat - Br18 thousand, 4th row 9th seat - Br25 thousand.
The site-double offered the same seats, but at a price of Br15.5 thousand, Br20 thousand and Br27 thousand, respectively. The other "mirror" also has the same tickets. Only the price is even higher: Br20.5 thousand, Br27.8 thousand and Br37.5 thousand. But they sell passes for other seats - a total of 40 tickets costing from Br3.4 to Br37.5 thousand. About 60 tickets for the performance of different price category - from Br3 to Br30 thousand - were also on the third resource. In addition, it offered overpriced tickets to 15 other theaters in the capital: Chekhov Moscow Art Theatre, RAMT, Maly, Yermolova, Fomenko's Workshop, Theater of Nations and others. By researching "mirrors" Izvestia found one owner who owned two of these online platforms. The ticket agency operates under the jurisdiction of IE Ivanov A.V.
How theaters fight ticket resellers
According to the law, theaters are obliged to place on their official websites information about all legal authorized ticket resellers. In this way the institution can reduce the number of purchases from speculators.
- There are various options to combat the illegal market of ticket speculators, some of them can be implemented directly by the theater, such as - judicial protection of its intellectual property, blocking "mirrors" of the theater website, etc., - said Elena Bulukova. - Some theaters go by changing the sales system. For example, by introducing personalized tickets. This measure, in my opinion, does not solve the problem, and creates additional inconveniences for theaters and spectators.
The Bolshoi Theater was the first to introduce name tickets, but only for the scarce "Nutcracker". From October 1, 2024 in the box office and on the website of the GABT the spectator goes only with a passport. Then the Depkult of Moscow extended such a sales regime to 63 theaters and 36 concert venues under its control. The new rules will be in effect when purchasing tickets for events scheduled from March 15.
But name passes did not save the Bolshoi's Nutcracker from speculators. On November 25, GABT announced that from now on there will be no queues and battles at the box office for the New Year's ballet. Tickets can only be purchased online. On December 2 at 10:00 Moscow time they will appear on the official website. In addition, some of them will be available for purchase at an online auction. Both individuals and legal entities will be able to participate.
How to distinguish a speculator
Elena Glukhovskaya, General Director of Kassir.ru, told Izvestia that the number of tickets sold for family New Year events increases by almost 70% year on year.
- But, unfortunately, problems with speculators remain," said Elena Glukhovskaya. - These can be both overbidders and simply fraudsters. Often they make websites with domain names that are similar to the name of the venue or the address of the ticket operator and sell overpriced tickets or basically non-existent tickets.
A scene from "The Nutcracker" at the Bolshoi Theater
To distinguish the original site from the left one, pay attention to the domain name. As a rule, the official portals of Russian theaters, concert halls and other venues have the RU domain. Carefully read the name in Latin. Fraudsters often change the letters in the name in places or one for another, put a dash or a number in the name. Doubles have a section "Delivery and payment of tickets". Theaters do not deliver tickets. They can be purchased and immediately printed or saved to your device. The original site has detailed information about the theater, its staff, management, legal and policy documents, contacts of various departments and services. Speculators often have only a telephone number for feedback.
