The Rotarian Photo Contest 2011-12

Official Rules

No purchase or donation necessary to enter or win.

1. ELIGIBILITY: The Rotarian Photo Contest (“Contest”) is open worldwide to entrants ages fourteen (14) or older who are Rotarians, spouses or children of Rotarians, Honorary Rotarians, or individuals who currently are taking part or have taken part in an official program of Rotary International or The Rotary Foundation of Rotary International (“Entrant” or “Entrants”). A minor (a person under eighteen (18) years of age) submitting a photograph or photographs should receive his/her parent/legal guardian’s permission and include his/her parent/legal guardian’s name and contact information on the Entry Form. Employees and interns of RI and The Rotary Foundation and their immediate family members (spouses, domestic partners, parents, children, and siblings) and others living in their households are not eligible to participate in or are excluded from this Contest. This Contest is void where prohibited or restricted by law. This is a skill-based contest, and chance plays no part in the determination of Contest winners.

2. SPONSOR: Rotary International, 1560 Sherman Avenue, Evanston, IL 60201 ("Sponsor").

3. AGREEMENT:  Participation in this Contest constitutes Entrant's full and unconditional agreement to these Official Rules and Sponsor's decisions, which are final and binding in all matters related to this Contest. Winning is contingent upon fulfilling all requirements set forth herein.

4. CONTEST PERIOD: Contest begins 1 December 2011 at 00:00 Central Standard Time (“CST”) (6:00 GMT) and ends 29 February 2012 at 23:59 CST (1 March 2012 at 05:59 GMT) ("Contest Period"). Sponsor is the official timekeeping device for the Contest Period. Photographs received prior to or after Contest Period are void.

5. PRIZES: One (1) Grand Prize: digital camera (retail value approximately US$300.00). Honorable Mention  photographs: photos will appear in the The Rotarian magazine and other Sponsor publications.  (Collectively "prizes.")

6. HOW TO ENTER: During the Contest Period, go to http://www.rotary.org/en/MediaAndNews/TheRotarian/Pages/TheRotarianPhotoContest.aspx, complete the Entry Form and follow the instructions to upload and submit a maximum of three (3) photographs ("Submission" or "Submissions"). Each Submission must be accompanied by a description of the Submission and how the Submission relates to the Spirit of Rotary Contest theme.

By uploading your Submission and submitting your Entry Form, you agree that your Submission conforms to these Official Rules and warrant that your Submission complies with the Official Rules. Sponsor may disqualify you from the Contest, in its sole discretion, if Sponsor believes that your Submission fails to conform to these Official Rules.

Sponsor reserves the right to disqualify Entrants who submit more than three (3) Submissions. Physical copies of Submissions received by Sponsor will not be returned and become the property of Sponsor. Submissions entered by automated means, including script or macro, are void. The person who submits the Submission will be deemed the Entrant. Sponsor reserves the right to disqualify Entrants who are unable to provide, upon request, the file formats required by Sponsor herein.

Any Entrant whose Submission includes likenesses of third parties or contains elements not owned by the Entrant (including, but not limited to, trademarks, images or logos) must be able to provide to Sponsor releases for such uses, including Sponsor’s use, in a form acceptable to Sponsor. Entrants whose Submission includes likenesses of minors must be able to provide to Sponsor, upon request, releases signed by the parent or legal guardian of such minors.

In the event of a dispute regarding the ownership of a Submission, the authorized account holder, at time of entry, of the email address used to upload and submit the Submission will be deemed to be the Entrant. Each Entrant may be required to show proof that he/she is the owner of the Submission. In the event that the ownership of the Submission is contested, Sponsor shall disqualify and discontinue use of the Submission.

Personal information collected from Entrant, such as Entrant’s name, Rotary affiliation, mailing address, e-mail address, and telephone number, during the Contest registration process is subject to Sponsor's Privacy Policy. Sponsor will only use Entrant’s personal information for the purposes of administering Entrant’s participation in the Contest, and will not release this information to any third party for any reason.

7. SUBMISSION GUIDELINES: All Submissions must be submitted by the original photographer and not anonymously. Entrant must own and hold all rights to his/her Submissions, including the copyright. Submissions must not contain material that violates or infringes on the rights of others, including, but not limited to, privacy, publicity, tort, copyright, trademark or patent rights or constitute copyright or trademark infringement. Submissions that have been previously published or are pending publication, have been previously exhibited or displayed or infringe on the copyright or trademark of any third party shall not be submitted by Entrant and will be disqualified by Sponsor.

Submissions must be at least 4 x 5 inches at a resolution of 300 dots per inch (or dpi). Submissions saved in a .jpg or .tif format are preferred. Each Submission must not exceed 2 megabytes per file. Submission may be in color or black and white. Photos must have been taken digitally between 1 January 2010 and 31 March 2011. Sponsor will not accept scans of non-digital photographs. No alteration or manipulation of Submissions is permitted. Sponsor’s judges reserve the right to disqualify any Submission that they believe has been altered or enhanced or that appears to be a scan of a non-digital photograph. Submissions must not be inappropriate, indecent, hateful, discriminatory or obscene, as determined in Sponsor’s sole discretion or contain unlawful or illegal materials. Sponsor reserves the right to disqualify Entrants who are unable to provide, upon request, high-resolution Submissions as required herein.

8. JUDGING: A panel of judges determined by Sponsor, in its sole discretion, will select the Grand Prize winner and the Honorable Mention winners from among all eligible Submissions based on the following criteria: appropriateness to theme, originality/creativity of Submission, and quality of Submission. The judges' decision is final.

9. WINNER NOTIFICATION:

The Grand Prize winner will be notified via email on or around 30 April 2012. The Honorable Mention winners will be notified by email once the Grand Prize winner is confirmed. The Grand Prize winner will have five (5) days after being notified via email to claim or forfeit the prize. If the Grand Prize winner fails to respond to the email notification within the required time period, is not in compliance with these Official Rules, or Sponsor’s prize notification is returned as undeliverable, such Grand Prize winner forfeits the prize. If Grand Prize winner is disqualified for any reason, the prize may be awarded to a runner-up, if any, in Sponsor’s sole discretion.

Grand Prize winner and Honorable Mention winners, or the parent or legal guardian of such winners, if Contest winner is a minor, may be required to complete and sign an affidavit of eligibility, originality and release. The affidavit must be returned within ten (10) business days from the date of notification by Sponsor of winning. If the Grand Prize winner is a minor, the prize will be awarded to the parent or legal guardian. Failure to comply with this requirement for any reason will result in disqualification and the prize will be forfeited and may be awarded to an alternate Entrant.

No transfer or substitution of prizes permitted. Prizes have no cash value. Any and all applicable taxes are the responsibility of the Grand Prize winner and Honorable Mention winners. Grand Prize and Honorable Mention winners agree that the Sponsor shall not be liable for injury, loss, or damage of any kind resulting from participation in this Contest or from the acceptance or uses of the prizes awarded.

10. LICENSE AND RELEASE: By participating in or entering this Contest, Entrant grants Sponsor a worldwide, royalty-free, irrevocable, perpetual, non-exclusive license to use, print, publish, reproduce, perform, edit, modify, create derivative works from, and display Submission(s) and any description of Submission(s), in whole or in part, in any publication or promotional device of Sponsor in any form, media or technology now known or later developed, including using Submission(s) for promotional and marketing purposes and in any publication of Sponsor and without attribution or compensation to Entrant and his/her successors or assigns. The grant of rights by Entrant to Sponsor herein shall include, but not be limited to, the right to adapt or otherwise use Submission(s), or any portion thereof, alone or in conjunction with other materials, in all types of electronic, digital, online, computer-based media and technologies and any other system or medium now existing or hereafter developed, the right to sublicense use and reproduction of Submission(s) to Rotary Entities, as well as the storage, retrieval, transmission, display, output and reproduction of data through any such media and technologies. Entrant will sign any necessary documentation that may be required by Sponsor to make use of the non-exclusive rights Entrant is granting to use the Submission. Submissions may be published on www.rotary.org at any time.

Entrant agrees to the worldwide publication and/or display of his/her name and likeness, in Sponsor’s sole discretion, except where prohibited by law. Any Entrant’s acceptance of any prize shall constitute and signify such Entrant’s agreement and consent that Sponsor and its designees may use the Entrant’s name, likeness, biographical materials, image, photo, Submission and/or prize information for advertising, promotional, publicity and other purposes, worldwide, in any and all media now known or hereafter devised, including posting the Submission online, for editorial purposes concerning this Contest or succeeding contests and for editorial publicity, special events and advertising purposes in connection with promoting Sponsor, its products, its Web site and/or this Contest or succeeding contests, without limitation and without further payment, notification, permission or other consideration, except where prohibited by law. Entrants will indemnify Sponsor, Rotary Indemnitees (as defined in Section 10, above) and any licensee of Sponsor against all claims, damages, liabilities, and expenses (including reasonable counsel fees and legal expenses) arising out of any breach of these terms.

11. LIMITATIONS OF LIABILITY: Sponsor disclaims all responsibility for: (1) any incorrect, incomplete, illegible or inaccurate information, whether caused by Entrant, printing, typographical or other errors or by any of the equipment or programming associated with or utilized in the Contest; (2) technical failures of any kind, including, but not limited to malfunctions, interruptions, or disconnections in phone lines, computer or  network hardware or software or Internet transmissions, whether electronic, human or mechanical; (3) unauthorized human intervention in any part of the Submission process or the Contest; (4) printing, typographical, technical, computer, network or human error which may occur in the administration of the Contest, the uploading, the processing or judging of Submissions or votes or the tabulating of votes, the announcement of the prizes or in any Contest-related materials; (5) late, lost, undeliverable, garbled, damaged, misdirected, misrouted or stolen Submissions; or (6) any injury, loss or damage to persons or property, including but not limited to Entrant’s computer or photography equipment, which may be caused, directly or indirectly, in whole or in part, from Entrant's participation in the Contest or receipt or use or misuse of any prize awarded. Rotary Indemnitees, as defined in paragraph 13 below, are not responsible for misdirected or undeliverable Submissions or for any technical problems, malfunctions of computer systems, servers, providers, hardware/software, lost or unavailable network connections or failed, incomplete, garbled or delayed computer transmission or any combination thereof. Rotary Indemnitees are not responsible for any unauthorized third party use of any Submission(s). Any and all claims, judgments and awards shall be limited to actual out-of-pocket costs incurred, including costs associated with entering this Contest, but in no event attorneys' fees. Under no circumstances will Entrant be permitted to obtain awards for, and Entrant hereby waives all rights to claim, indirect, punitive, incidental and consequential damages and any other damages, other than for actual out-of-pocket expenses, and any and all rights to have damages multiplied or otherwise increased. 

12. ADDITIONAL TERMS AND CONDITIONS: By entering or participating in the Contest, Entrants agree to be bound by these Official Rules. Any attempt by any Entrant or other person to deliberately undermine the legitimate operation of the Contest may be a violation of criminal and civil law, and, should such an attempt be made, Sponsor reserves the right to seek damages and other remedies (including attorneys' fees) from any such person to the fullest extent permitted by law. Sponsor's failure to enforce any term of these Official Rules shall not constitute a waiver of that term. Sponsor reserves the right, at its sole discretion, to disqualify any suspect Submission(s) or Entrant or cancel, terminate, modify or suspend the Contest, or any part of it, if any fraud, technical failures or any other factor impairs the integrity or proper functioning of the Contest. If Entrant or Contest is terminated, Sponsor may, in its sole discretion, select a Contest winner from among all eligible Submissions received prior to the action taken using the judging procedure outlined above or in other such manner as deemed fair and appropriate by Sponsor. Sponsor, in its sole discretion, reserves the right to disqualify any individual it finds to be tampering with the Submission process or the operation of the Contest or to be acting in violation of these Official Rules or any other promotion or in an unsportsmanlike or disruptive manner and void all associated Submissions.

Entrant accepts and acknowledges that Sponsor shall not be obligated to use her/his Submission and that Sponsor, in its sole discretion, shall have the right to refrain from using the Submission. Sponsor shall not incur any liability whatsoever to the extent Sponsor chooses to refrain from any exploitation of its rights hereunder.

By participating in or entering this Contest, Entrant agrees to defend, indemnify, release and hold harmless Sponsor including its foundation, respective directors, trustees, officers, committees, subsidiaries, affiliates, employees, agents, assigns, third party information providers and representatives (“Rotary Indemnitees”) from and against all claims (including, claims of patent, trademark, and copyright infringement), demands, actions, damages, losses, costs, liabilities, expenses (including reasonable attorneys' fees and other legal expenses), awards, fines and judgments asserted against or recovered from Rotary Indemnitees arising out of or related to Entrant’s participation in Contest or Submission, arising out of any act, conduct, omission, negligence, misconduct, or unlawful act (or act contrary to any governmental order or regulation) by Entrant, and including, but not limited to, personal injury, damage or loss of property, breach or violation of these Official Rules or rights of another by Entrant. Sponsor shall not be liable in any way for injuries to persons or damages to property incurred or suffered by Entrant or any of Entrant’s subcontractors, agents, heirs, successors or assigns, or any person related to Entrant in any way.

13. DISPUTES: Except where prohibited, Entrant agrees that: (1) these Official Rules or the rights and obligations of the Entrant and Sponsor in connection with this Contest shall be governed and construed by the laws of the State of Illinois, without regard to its conflict of laws; and (2) any and all disputes, claims and causes of action arising out of or connected with this Contest or any prize awarded in conjunction with this Contest shall be resolved individually, without resort to any form of class action, and exclusively by the state courts sitting in Cook County, Illinois or the federal courts in the Northern District of Illinois.

Purchase from or donation to Sponsor does not improve Entrant's chances of winning.

All federal, state, and local laws apply. Void where prohibited or restricted by law.