§ 23.08. Proceeds from advance ticket sales; refunds. 1. Any ticket
distributor who offers or sells to the public in or from the state of
New York, advance tickets of admission to events to be held in places of
entertainment, or who contracts for the sale of such advance tickets of
admission, and accepts in advance partial or full payment of the
purchase price therefor, shall, no later than the next business day
after receipt thereof, deposit all such advance payments in an escrow
account in a bank, trust company, savings bank, or state or federal
savings and loan association, located in this state. A separate escrow
account shall be established for each place of entertainment. Monies
deposited in escrow shall be released upon performance of each event for
which such monies have been deposited to the extent that such monies
represent payment for advance tickets sold for the performed event. The
person who offers or sells advance tickets shall not be required to keep
in separate depository accounts the funds of the separate ticket
purchasers from whom payments have been received, provided his books of
account shall clearly show the number of tickets sold at each price for
each theatrical production, concert or sporting event for which a
separate escrow account has been established, and the total amount of
advance ticket revenues. Each advance ticket purchaser shall, until the
performance of the event for which the advance ticket has been
purchased, retain a property interest in that portion of the deposit
which equals the amount he has paid for such advance ticket, and shall
be entitled to a refund for such amount if the performance of the event
for which such ticket has been purchased in advance has been cancelled
or rescheduled, except as provided for by subdivision three of this
section.

2. In lieu of the deposit of all such advance payments in an escrow
account as provided in subdivision one of this section, any ticket
distributor who offers or sells advance tickets may post with the
secretary of state in a form, substance and amount satisfactory to the
attorney general, a letter of credit drawn on a bank, trust company,
savings bank, or state or federal savings and loan association, located
in this state, or a bond or contract of indemnity, issued by a surety
company licensed to execute such an instrument in this state, such
letter of credit, bond or contract of indemnity to be in favor of the
state for the benefit of any person who has purchased an advance ticket
if performance of the event for which such ticket has been purchased has
been cancelled or rescheduled, except as provided for by subdivision
three of this section. The amount of the escrow account required to be
established under subdivision one of this section may be reduced by the
amount of the letter of credit, bond or contract of indemnity provided
for in this subdivision provided that the combined amount of money held
in such escrow account and the value of such letter of credit, bond or
contract of indemnity shall at all times at least be equal to the amount
of money collected from advance ticket sales for all events to be held
at each place of entertainment.

3. The refund provisions of subdivisions one and two of this section
shall not apply where (i) there was no material change in the time of
the performance of the event or in the location at which the event was
held; (ii) the performance of such event was rescheduled due to an Act
of God, war, riot or other catastrophe as to which negligence or willful
misconduct on the part of the ticket distributor who offered or sold
such advance tickets was not the proximate cause and where the advance
ticket purchaser was given the right to use his or her ticket for such
rescheduled performance or the right to exchange such ticket for a
ticket comparable in price and location to another, similar event; or
(iii) the back of the ticket conspicuously states that if the
performance is cancelled or rescheduled, the ticket distributor shall
not be required to refund the ticket price if the ticket purchaser is
given the right, within twelve months of the originally scheduled date
of the performance, to attend a rescheduled performance of the same
event or to exchange such ticket for a ticket comparable in price and
location to another, similar event.