Pollstar sues listing rival

Dot-com alleges misappropriation

By ANN DONAHUE

Concert information portal Pollstar.com filed suit Wednesday against Gigmania.com, alleging that the rival Web site misappropriated concert listings from the company.

According to the complaint, which was filed in federal court in Fresno, Gotham-based Gigmania copied listings, including phony ones inserted by Pollstar in its own content, and posted them on its Web site.

Among the fictitious concert dates that Pollstar posted included Run DMC playing at the "Lecter Cooking Academy" in Harris, Va. and Neurotica playing at "Mooze & Skwirl Auditorium" in Frostbite Falls, Minn.

"It didn’t matter how absurd the names of the fictitious cities and venues were — Gigmania would put them up," said Gary Bongiovonni, prexy of Pollstar. "It’s also obvious that they didn’t make much of an effort to update their information — the erroneous data remained on their site right up until the made-up concert date passed."

Gigmania issued a statement late Thursday afternoon.

"In this highly competitive market, Gigmania has always conducted its business professionally and properly," said Tyson Daugherty, CEO of Gigmania. "We regret Pollstar’s tactics. Until we officially receive notice of the legal action, we unfortunately must reserve comment."

Pollstar is seeking an injunction against Gigmania as well as damages, although no specific dollar amounts are given in the lawsuit.