Section 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.