Desert Trip Tries To Get Federal Crackdown On Scalpers, Bootleggers

INDIO (CBSLA.com) — A request from the Desert Trip festival for authorities to confiscate and destroy bootleg merchandise being sold outside the classic rock concert, which starts Friday night, was rejected by a federal judge.

The request is the latest move by companies behind Desert Trip and the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival to crack down on scalpers and copycats. The company has gone to federal court at least five times since January, according to The Desert Sun.

In the latest case, a lawsuit filed a week ago doesn't name a defendant, but instead makes a preemptive argument that bootleggers will sell "unauthorized" merchandise outside the concert, confusing concertgoers, the newspaper reported.

Desert Trip – a six-day, two-weekend music festival – is expected to be one of the biggest and most-profitable rock concerts of all time. Tickets cost hundreds to thousands of dollars, and more will be spent on T-shirts, hats and other souvenirs.

Federal Judge Philip Gutierrez denied the request last week, then reaffirmed his decision Wednesday, writing that Desert Trip helped create its own crisis by waiting until late September to file its request, according to the Sun.

(©2016 CBS Local Media, a division of CBS Radio Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. Wire services contributed to this report.)