A Lubbock Realtor is finding herself in the cross hairs of the Garth Brooks legal team after trying to give away tickets on Facebook.
“This is mine and my husband’s, like, bucket list concert. And so, we bought tickets and we were extremely fortunate to be able to get an extra pair and I wanted to give a pair away,” said Lubbock Realtor Lindsey Nicholson.
Nicholson isn’t alone, type Lubbock Garth Brooks ticket giveaway in Facebook’s search bar and you’ll find countless results.
Most posts ask you to like the group or company’s page, share the post and make some kind of comment. A formula that Nicholson followed exactly.
“I had planned to make a Facebook post and, with my business page, and promote that page, or promote that post, and have people like and comment and share to kind of get the word out there….I just thought it was going to be fun and something exciting for the community,” said Nicholson.
Just as you would expect, hundreds started entering to win. A perfect beginning for a starting Realtor.
That is until the unexpected happened.
“I received a phone call from Garth Brooks management telling me what I was doing was illegal. And threatening a lawsuit and that I must take it down,” explained Nicholson.
Then days later a cease and desist order stating that Nicholson unlawfully used the mark Garth Brooks® as well as an image owned by G.COM LLC and Garth Brooks’ image and likeness to promote her business.
Essentially saying that the post is a violation of the common law right of publicity. But, Nicholson’s lawyer doesn’t agree.
“She used his name, but it seems incidental here because she isn’t using it to gain popularity or gain anything. She’s using it because she’s actually giving away tickets to his concert,” said Carrie Harris, Lawyer at Matthew Harris Law firm.
Instead Harris says the post should qualify as a sweepstakes and this case would fall under Texas Gaming Law.
“What she has done is said, ‘like my page or like this post, share with three friends or post for three friends.’ But she has also made it possible that they can contact her privately and still be entered into the contest,” Harris said.
But, it was earlier this week that the Garth Brooks’ foundation contacted Facebook with the problem. Facebook then removed the post and sent a warning that another violation would result in Nicholson being banned from the social media site.
We reached out to Brooks’ legal team for additional comment but they would not call us back.
Nicholson’s legal team is still working to prove that what she was doing is legal.
But, this goes as a warning, if you or your business is giving away tickets with out the legal consent of Garth Brooks you could find yourself in a similar situation.
