A ticketing company will be taking legal action against the organiser of a postponed festival for allegedly duplicating its copyrighted terms and conditions, complete with customer contact number, on the tickets.

MaltaTicket, which manages entrance tickets to events, said it was never involved in the Legends of the 60s four-day music festival. The company also planned to ask the police to take criminal action against the festival organiser Manuel Portelli.

Meanwhile, Mr Portelli yesterday filed a judicial protest against Jagged House, the management company of The Rifffs and Tribali, that were meant to perform during the festival.

He claimed that, according to a contract, the two local bands were meant to perform on Saturday together with Ali Campbell, former front man of the British band UB40.

When Jagged House were informed that Mr Campbell would not attend, due to technical and logistical reasons, the company called off the bands' contribution and the whole event had to be cancelled. He held the company liable in damages.

Earlier this week Jagged House said it planned to sue Mr Portelli. The company claimed that the two bands had committed themselves to perform with Ali Campbell. They were not informed about the decision that he would not attend.

Jagged House's threat of legal action was followed by MaltaTicket's declaration yesterday. Since the event was postponed, two days before it was meant to start, people had called MaltaTicket's offices for a refund.

That was how the company realised that its customer service phone number and copyrighted terms and conditions were printed on the back of the entrance tickets.

"We take violation of our copyright very seriously and will be taking legal action against Mr Portelli for damages," MaltaTicket CEO David Pollina said in a statement.

"As if his other conduct in this matter were not unprofessional enough, his illegal use of our material has made it appear to the public that we are also involved in his debacle," he said.

MaltaTicket said it was also considering legal action against Maltapost, from there the tickets were sold, for putting its logo and sales barcode under the allegedly plagiarised information.

Maltapost, however, said it was not involved in the design of the tickets and did not allow the use of any of its barcodes. The tickets were supplied to Maltapost offices by the organiser ready for sale.

On Monday Mr Portelli issued a short statement announcing that the event - which was meant to have run from Wednesday to tomorrow in Qawra - had been postponed and not cancelled.

The reason was not revealed, with Mr Portelli only saying it was due to "technical and legal problems".

Ticket holders can get a refund on 7988 0582, or, if they prefer, hold on to the ticket and use it when the festival is planned to be held in about three weeks' time.