A new lawsuit filed by fans of Taylor Swift and other musicians reportedly accuses Ticketmaster and its parent company, Live Nation, of conspiring with other organizations to inflate ticket prices.

Prosecutors allege this conduct violates the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) Act because the organizations conspired with partners in such a way that they became an illegal enterprise, Wired reported Monday (Nov. 18).

Their complaint, which was filed Friday (Nov. 15) in California court and builds on a federal lawsuit filed by Swift fans, accuses Ticketmaster and Live Nation of engaging in “a pattern of racketeering activity,” the report said.

A spokesperson for Live National said in the report: “This lawsuit is based on false assumptions about how ticketing works. Artist teams, and not Ticketmaster, set the prices. Live Nation does not own any stadiums in the US and its primary tickets are consistently priced below market value, as evidenced by resale prices averaging more than double that.”

The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) filed a lawsuit in May to dismantle Live Nation, alleging antitrust violations and monopolistic practices.

“We allege that Live Nation relies on unlawful, anticompetitive conduct to exert its monopolistic control over the live events industry in the United States at the expense of fans, artists, smaller promoters and venue operators,” said Attorney General Merrick Garland in a statement. the suit of that moment.

Live Nation responded to that lawsuit by calling the allegations “absurd.”

Dan Wall, executive vice president for corporate and regulatory affairs at Live Nation, said: “It ignores everything that is actually responsible for higher ticket prices, from rising production costs, to artist popularity, to 24/7 online ticket scalping.”

A day after the DOJ filed its suit, a consumer antitrust lawsuit was filed, accusing Live Nation of exerting monopoly control over its industry.

At the time of that lawsuit’s filing in May, the lawsuit sought $5 billion in damages on behalf of millions of customers.

Live Nation has faced criticism over ticket prices, customer service and alleged anti-competitive practices since the merger of Live Nation and Ticketmaster in 2010.