Concertgoers can sue organizers, artistes for late start of events - Legal Practitioner

Legal Practitioner at Robert and Smith Group, Adwoa Paintsil, has said that disgruntled patrons of music concerts have the right to sue artists for arriving late at events.

She said this in light of the December-in-Ghana events, which saw several concerts and music events being organised and heavily attended by music lovers in and out of Ghana.

However, some of these events were met with complaints by patrons about the late start of the events and the late arrivals of artistes booked.

In a live studio discussion on Daybreak Hitz on Hitz FM, Adwoa Painstill cited the case of the ‘Promise Land” concert organized by King Promise, which saw patrons wait for more than 5 hours before it began.

According to her, patrons who left after being made to wait due to lateness have the right to sue artistes and organizers.

“For instance, in the case of Promise Land, where the event was scheduled to start at 8, and you left at 9 or 10 when the event hadn't started, you then have the right to sue. The people who left the event before it started could come together and sue King Promise or the organisers for damages and a refund of their money. That is because the organisers did not honour the time the event was supposed to start and that falls under 'breach of contract',” she said.

Adwoa Painstil noted that such rights only apply to patrons who leave before an event starts late and not those who stay till the event begins.

“But if you stay until the event starts later, you can't really sue. They may have been deemed to have waived their rights because they stayed until the programme started and enjoyed it,” she clarified.

Adwoa Painstil’s comments come after American pop star Madonna was sued by two fans for “Breach of Contract” after her New York concert started two hours late. The fans claimed that they were not notified of the delay and that they faced difficulties and inconveniences after the show.

They accused the singer and the organizers of deceptive trade practices and sought class action status for other affected concertgoers. They also alleged that Madonna has a history of being late for her shows.

ID/BB

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