| The Broadway League Files Lawsuit Against Casting Company Cartel | |
| Posted by: Official_Press_Release 07:27 am EST 12/05/17 | |
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| The Broadway League Files Lawsuit Against Casting Company Cartel 44-page complaint outlines extensive details on how casting cartel is jeopardizing the viability of Broadway shows and harming actors, stagehands, musicians, and others who depend on theatre for their well being Today in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, The Broadway League filed a formal legal complaint against a cartel of casting companies who are violating antitrust laws, jeopardizing Broadway shows, and harming actors, stagehands, musicians, and others who depend on the theatre for their livelihood. The full legal complaint can be found at www.broadwayleague.com. Specifically, the complaint asserts that certain actions by the casting cartel represent clear violations of the Sherman Act, a law designed to help protect against anti-competitive behavior. According to the complaint, the casting cartel defendants have participated in a common scheme to create, enhance, aggregate or exploit their collective market power for casting services for Broadway productions. This scheme has included unlawful contracts, combinations and conspiracies in restraint of trade -- clear violations of Section 1 of the Sherman Act which was designed to protect against such specific behavior. These unlawful agreements by the cartel have included agreements among the defendants and their co-conspirators to (1) eliminate price competition among casting companies; (2) raise, fix or inflate the prices that casting companies charge for their services, including by imposing surcharges on top of any negotiated fees; (3) engage in a concerted refusal to deal, or group boycott, with any producer that did not agree to one or more demands collectively agreed-upon by the defendants; and (4) take such other steps as may be necessary to carry out the agreement. The casting companies control over 80% of all Broadway shows. In recent weeks, they have stepped up their demands. In their latest salvo, they now seek to inflate prices for their services by 29%, adding tens of thousands of dollars to the costs of developing a show. These unlawful agreements restrain trade, jeopardize the very viability of Broadway shows, and harm actors, stagehands, musicians producers and countless other innocent parties related to the theatre by preventing price competition among defendant casting companies, increasing the price or cost of casting services, reducing the choice of casting companies that a producer may select, reducing the quality of services that are available for Broadway productions, and increasing the barriers to entry or expansion for actual or potential competitors in the casting services market. “We have maintained a respectful dialogue with the defendants, and encouraged them to resolve their issues through the National Labor Relations Board,” said Charlotte St. Martin, President of The Broadway League. “However, the defendants continuing illegal and anticompetitive cartel behavior is jeopardizing the survival of Broadway shows, and bringing real harm to the actors, stagehands, musicians, and others who depend on the theatre for their very livelihood. We have no choice but to seek a legal remedy to the cartel’s illegal behavior.” # # # THE BROADWAY LEAGUE (Charlotte St. Martin, President), founded in 1930, is the national trade association for the Broadway industry. The League’s 700-plus members include theatre owners and operators, producers, presenters, and general managers who present in nearly 200 markets in North America. Each year, League members bring Broadway to nearly 30 million people in New York and on tour across the U.S. and Canada. The Broadway League has recently added a new category for International membership to collaborate with professionals from around the world who produce and present Broadway quality theatre. The Broadway League annually co-presents the Antoinette Perry “Tony” Awards®, one of the most coveted awards in the entertainment industry. Key League programs and resources include: Kids’ Night on Broadway®, The Jimmys®, Stars in the Alley®, Internet Broadway Database® (ibdb.com), Broadway.org, SpotlightonBroadway.com, Commercial Theater Institute (with Theatre Development Fund), as well as numerous conferences and forums for our members. Broadway Bridges™, with the support of the New York City Department of Education, is aimed at giving every New York City public high school student the opportunity to see a Broadway show before graduation. TheatreAccessNYC (co-produced with TDF) is the one-stop website of accessible Broadway performances for theatregoers with disabilities. Broadway.org is the League’s official on-line headquarters for Broadway in NYC, on tour, and internationally. For more information visit BroadwayLeague.com, or follow @BroadwayLeague on Twitter and visit us at Facebook.com/BroadwayLeague. Broadway theatres are filled with an exciting array of new and classic musicals and plays, providing the perfect experience for every audience. Great seats are available at every price point and are easy to buy online, by phone, or in person at theatre box offices. It’s always the perfect time to see a show. Broadway performs every day of the week at multiple curtain times to accommodate every schedule. |
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