TicketTurk Forced To Pay

TicketTurk has been told it must pay Megadeth for its 2005 appearance at Rock Istanbul.

The Appeal Court in Ankara threw out TicketTurk’s appeal against a December 2007 decision in the Istanbul Asliye Ticaret Mahkemesi (commercial court), which also ruled in Megadeth’s favor, and hit the ticket agency with a 40-percent premium for acting in bad faith.

The commercial court can levy the extra charge when it feels the debtor has acted in bad faith by questioning its liability to pay.

The Jan. 20 verdict ends a legal saga that has dragged on for nearly four years, as TicketTurk – once reported to be a takeover target for German ticket giant CTS Eventim – has argued that it has no liability to pay the outstanding fees.

A second case involving Garbage’s appearance at the same event was because of the commercial court February 3, and Savas Inandioglu of Topdemir & Inandioglu – which is acting for both bands – is confident of a second win.

“I am optimistic that this [Megadeth] decision will be a precedent for the Garbage case and that we shall win that as well,” Inandioglu told Pollstar, confirming that TicketTurk has already handed over the cash needed to settle the Megadeth case.

“I can’t give the exact details of the amounts without the client’s authority. However, I can say I collected the full amount” he said, pointing out that the payment included interest and costs.

“Now we can say that TT’s claim at the beginning of the proceedings, namely they are not responsible for any debt, is considered totally untrue by the Turkish Courts.”

Both cases center on whether two undertakings saying TicketTurk would pay the balance of fees – apparently written and signed by managing director Gulseren Onanc – were valid under Turkish law.

Rock Istanbul 2005 was on the brink of financial collapse when TicketTurk stepped in to underwrite the artists’ fees, leaving Istanbul-based Charmenko – which put Megadeth and Garbage on the bill – to chase the money. TT’s lawyers Eckmecki & Karakus then claimed its client “hasn’t made any undertaking that would be considered binding under Turkish law.”

Rock Istanbul promoter Boray Dundar and partner Fil Yapim went bankrupt shortly after the festival, although Dundar set up a new company to stage Rock Istanbul 2006.

A one-off with Guns ‘N’ Roses’ at the city’s 12,000-capacity Kuruçesme Arena was only half full, and again it was TicketTurk that underwrote the headliner’s fee.

Neither TicketTurk nor its lawyers were available for comment at press time.