New Yorkers were excluded from Tuesday’s Michael Jackson memorial in Los Angeles because of an obscure state law barring contests that aren’t registered with the state. New York, Florida and Rhode Island have laws on the books that say residents aren’t eligible for contests unless they’re registered with the state to prevent fraud. Who knew?

So New Yorkers who used their home zip code to apply for one of the 17,500 tickets available through an online lottery were automatically disqualified. It’s unclear how many New Yorkers were affected since winners of the lottery had to be in Los Angeles to pick up their tickets Monday.

AEG Live, which owns the Staples Center and organized the ticket distribution, failed to register with New York in the rush to plan the memorial.