Photo Contest Rules

“Empowering Women and Girls through Sports” Photo Contest

 Official Contest Rules

NO ENTRY FEE IS NECESSARY TO PARTICIPATE OR WIN. THE CONTEST IS VOID WHERE PROHIBITED BY LAW, REGULATION, STATUTE OR OTHER APPROPRIATE LEGAL AUTHORITY.

I. Contest Sponsors:

 The “Empowering Women and Girls through Sports” Photo Contest is sponsored by the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs (ECA) in the U.S. Department of State.

II. Platform Sponsor:

ExchangesConnect (a custom social network built on the Ning platform). ExchangesConnect (http://connect.state.gov) is an international online community managed by the U.S. Department of State's Bureau of Educational & Cultural Affairs that connects potential, current, and former exchange program participants around the world so that they can discuss application processes, programs, and living abroad.

III. How to Enter:

Take an original still photo that reflects the theme of the contest, “Empowering Women and Girls through Sports,” and showcases the world of women and girls’ sports. Submit it to the Contest using the method listed below (“Photo Submission”). Once a photo is uploaded to the Contest site, it is considered a final submission and may not be modified or edited, or replaced. Contestants may submit no more than two photos. Participation in this Contest is automatically deemed as acceptance of these Official Contest Rules. A Photo Submission must be an original photograph (digital or analog) taken by the submitter.

a. Photo Submission: After registering for the Contest at  http://connect.state.gov, contestants can upload their Contest photographs. Photos must include a title, description, and a tag of the participant’s home country to be eligible. Contestants will also be required to complete a registration form to include their (i) Name, (ii) Country, (iii) Email Address, (iv) Number of Photos Submitted , (v) How they heard about the contest and (vi) Exchange program status (v and vi both optional).Finalists will be contacted and asked to provide a headshot and their mailing address in order to move to the next round of judging.

b. Retouching of Photos:The submitted contest photograph cannot be significantly retouched: nothing in the photographs (people, animals, scenery, objects, etc.) may be altered, removed, augmented or rearranged. Cropping is permitted, as is modest darkening or lightening of parts of the image.

IV. Content Requirements

Photo Submissions must not contain obscenity, explicit sexual material, nudity, profanity, graphic violence, calls or incitement to violence, commercial solicitation or commercial promotion. Submissions also must not contain content or images that could be considered abusive, inflammatory, denigrating, or disrespectful to the Contest Sponsor, or to groups, individuals or institutions.

Photo Submissions must be original photos created by the Contestant and must not contain any elements that are protected by someone else’s copyright or otherwise subject to third party proprietary rights, including privacy and publicity rights (except as expressly permitted below). Submissions must adhere both in appearance and in fact to the norms of civil discourse. In other words, the content of all Photo Submissions must be suitable for a global, public audience. The Contest Sponsor and Platform Sponsor reserve the right to disqualify, at their sole and absolute discretion, any submission that does not adhere to these criteria, to the intent, or to the substance of these Official Contest Rules.

By submitting a photo to the Contest, the Contestant affirms that he or she has obtained written consent from all individuals whose image or likeness appears in the photo and further affirms that he or she is prepared to provide reliable documentation to that effect upon request (or from the individuals’ parent/legal guardian if any such individuals are considered a minor in their country of residence). The Contestant further affirms that he or she has obtained the necessary rights, licenses, consents and permissions to use all material in the photo. Failure to obtain such rights, license consents, and permissions may result in the disqualification of the Photo Submission at the Contest Sponsors' sole and absolute discretion. The Contest Sponsor recognizes no allowance for “fair use” of copyrighted material. In the event of any question or difference of view regarding compliance with, interpretation, or application of these Content Requirements or other provisions of these Official Contest Rules, the Contest Sponsor reserves the exclusive right to resolve such questions or differences of view in their sole discretion. 

V. Eligibility:

1. Contestants must be at least 14 years old on the date of commencement of the Contest.
2. The Contest commences at 4 p.m. GMT (noon EDT) on July 24, 2012, and closes at 4 p.m. GMT (noon EDT) on September 4, 2012.
3. The person submitting the photo will be considered the Contestant and will be the only person eligible to compete for the prize. In order to be eligible to win the prize, you must provide accurate and complete information.
4. The following individuals are not eligible to enter the Contest: Employees, directors and officers of: the Contest Sponsor, Platform sponsors, Participating Individuals and Organizations, the U.S. government, or contractors of the U.S. government; or distribution agencies, web design agencies, advertising agencies, fulfillment agencies, as well as judging and Contest agencies involved in the administration, development, fulfillment and execution of this Contest and the immediate family members (defined as spouse, recognized partner, parent, child, sibling and spouse or "step" of each) and those living in the same households of each such individual. Professional photographers are eligible to compete.
5. Submissions must follow technical format requirements of the Ning Platform – Submission should be in .jpg, .gif, or .png format and no larger than a ten (10) megabyte (MB) file size. The submission should be at least 72 dots per inch (dpi). Submissions should not have any visible watermarks, signatures, or personally identifiable information such as name or email address.

1. Once a photo submission has been accepted for entry into the contest, the contestant’s name and country may be publically identified at the sole discretion of the Contest Sponsors.  All contestants have the right to request their name not be publicized in connection with their contest submission.  Contestants must inform the Contest Sponsor of this wish when registering for the contest.

VI. Selection of Winners:  

Judging Criteria

All photos will be screened by the Contest Sponsor to ensure compliance with these Official Contest Rules and the ExchangesConnect and Ning Terms of Service. The Contest Sponsor reserves the right in their sole and absolute discretion to verify in the final analysis whether a potential finalist or potential winning Photo Submission has fully complied with these Official Contest Rules.

An independent jury comprised of Contest Sponsors and photography sports experts will evaluate the submissions to choose one U.S. and one international grand prize winner and 18 finalists from the world’s six geographic regions as defined by the U.S. Department of State (Western Hemisphere, East Asia Pacific, Europe, Africa, Near East, South & Central Asia). The finalists will be announced and posted on the Contest site and Facebook page on October 4, 2012. Finalists may be publicly identified by name and country, at the sole discretion of the Contest Sponsors.

Judging Standards

•        Originality:You must have taken this photo. Is your photo original, fresh or inventive?

•        Creativity:How imaginative is your photo? A creative photo breaks from traditional methods of presenting ideas and messages. For example, you could take the photo from an unexpected angle or focus on a detail that is usually ignored. Avoid simple snapshots of groups of people or buildings.

•        Effectiveness:Does your photo clearly address the theme, “Empowering Women and Girls through Sports?" An effective photo will feature one or more women or girls engaged actively in a sport.

•        Photo Quality:Is your photo aesthetically pleasing? A high-quality photo is well composed and has a clear focal point. It should not be blurry, too dark or too light. Remember, you don't need to be a professional photographer to take a high-quality photo!

Each finalist will be required to sign and return to the Contest Sponsors an affidavit of eligibility and liability/publicity release and provide a short bio and brief statement about the photo; otherwise they will be ineligible to compete for the grand prize. The Contest Sponsor reserves the right, in their sole and absolute discretion, to verify that a potential finalist or winner is in full compliance with these Official Contest Rules before the Contestant is recognized as a finalist or winner, and before awarding any prize. The inability of Contest Sponsors to contact a potential finalist or winner may result in disqualification and/or selection of an alternate finalist or winner from among all remaining eligible submissions.

VII. Prize:

The two (2) final winners will receive the grand prize: an iPad 3 tablet computer, and the 18 runners-up will each receive an ExchangesConnect T-shirt and a set of trading cards of the winning photos. The winners’ photos will be displayed at the U.S. Department of State and in various Contest Sponsor media channels. At each public display, a short bio of the winner may be included, along with a brief statement, in the winner’s own words, about the photo, including its meaning for that winner.

Winners and runners-up will be notified by email the week of October 1, 2012. Upon request at the close of the contest, the winner must provide a valid mailing address within one month of receipt of the email where an additional prize, if any, is to be shipped. The Contest Sponsors are not responsible for any problems related to the shipping of any additional prize, including, but not limited to, theft, delay, damage, or destruction/accidental loss by the shipping carrier.

Any unused portion of the prize is not transferable, convertible, or exchangeable and cannot be taken as cash.  All taxes on or in connection with any prize, and the reporting consequences thereof, are the sole and exclusive responsibility of the winner.

Contest Sponsors are not liable in the event that any portion of the Contest is cancelled due to weather, fire, strike, acts of war or terrorism, or any other condition beyond their control. 

VIII. Liabilities and Rights:

1. The Contest Sponsors and Platform Sponsor do not necessarily endorse any particular photo, messages, or advice expressed therein, and the Contest Sponsors expressly disclaim any and all liability in connection with the submitted photos, including disputes between collaborators related to a Photo Submission.
2. This Contest and its sponsors do not permit copyright infringing activities or infringement of any other intellectual property rights, and Contest Sponsors reserve the right to remove and disqualify any submission they deem to be in violation of another party's copyright or other intellectual property rights.
3. The Contestant assumes sole responsibility for the photo and the material contained in it and also for the consequences of the posting on ExchangesConnect.
4. The Contest Sponsors reserve the right, at any time, to verify the validity of entries and of Contestants and to disqualify any Contestant or entry deemed not in compliance or any entry deemed not in accordance with these Official Contest Rules. The Contest Sponsors also reserve the right to request further documentation, at their sole and absolute discretion, to verify eligibility and compliance with these Official Contest Rules. If a prize or any portion thereof, is unavailable, the Contest Sponsors, in their sole discretion, reserve the right to substitute the prize with another prize of equal or greater value and/or specification.
5. If this Contest is interfered or tampered with in any way by a Contestant, or a person acting on the Contestant’s behalf, or, if, as a consequence of such interference, the Contest is not capable of being reasonably conducted in the manner anticipated by the Contest Sponsors, the Sponsors reserve the right, in their sole discretion and to the fullest extent permitted by law to disqualify any interfering Contestant and/or modify, suspend, terminate or cancel the Contest.
6. In addition, the Contest Sponsors reserve the right, at any time and in their sole discretion, to disqualify and/or deem ineligible any individual who they reasonably believe (a) has failed to agree to the Official Contest Rules or has violated the Official Contest Rules; (b) has violated ExchangesConnect or Ning’s “Terms of Use”; or (c) is acting in a bad faith, unsportsmanlike or disruptive manner, or with intent to annoy, abuse, threaten or harass any other person.
7. If for any reason the Contest is not capable of running as planned, including without limitation, infection by computer virus, bugs, tampering, unauthorized intervention, fraud, technical failures, or any other causes which corrupt or affect the administration, security, fairness, integrity or proper conduct of the Contest, the Contest Sponsors reserve the right, at their sole discretion, to cancel, modify or terminate the Contest.
8. Contest Sponsors reserve the right to modify, suspend, terminate or cancel the Contest, as appropriate, including due to any other reason beyond the control of the Contest Sponsors.
9. You agree to defend, indemnify and hold harmless the Contest Sponsors and Platform Sponsor, their parent, subsidiary and other affiliated companies, officers, directors, employees and agents, from and against any and all claims, damages, obligations, losses, liabilities, costs or debt, and expenses (including but not limited to attorney's fees) arising from: (i) your use of and access to the Ning and Contest websites in connection with the Contest; (ii) your violation of these Official Contest Rules or the ExchangesConnect or Ning Terms of Service; (iii) your violation of any third party right, including without limitation any copyright, trademark, intellectual property, privacy, publicity or other proprietary right in connection with the Contest; or (iv) any claim that your Photo Submissions caused damage to a third party. This defense and indemnification obligation will survive indefinitely beyond the conclusion of the Contest and your use of the Contest and Ning websites.
10. The conduct, judging and awarding of prizes for the Contest will be carried out in full compliance with applicable U.S. laws.
11. Neither Contest Sponsors nor Platform Sponsor is liable for any disputes between collaborators related to a Photo Submission.
12. Contestants retain ownership of and all copyright and other intellectual property rights for their photos.  However, if chosen as a winner or runner-up, Contestants grant Contest Sponsors, participating organizations, and Platform Partner, with proper attribution through whatever means they deem appropriate, a worldwide, non-exclusive, royalty-free, sub-licensable and transferable license to use, reproduce, distribute, prepare derivative works of, and/or display the Photo Submission, in any media formats and through any media channels in perpetuity in connection with the activities and operations of the Contest.
13.  At their sole discretion, Contest Sponsors may contact Contestants to propose collaboration on additional projects.

IX. Limitations of Liability and Release:

Contest Sponsors assume no liability or responsibility for any loss or harm resulting from any user's participation in or attempt to participate in the Contest or ability or inability to upload, download or otherwise access any information in connection with participating in the Contest. Contest Sponsors assume no responsibility or liability for technical problems or technical malfunction arising in connection with any of the following occurrences which may affect the operation of the Contest: hardware or software errors; faulty computer, telephone, cable, satellite, network, electronic, wireless or Internet connectivity or other online communication problems; errors or limitations of any Internet service providers, servers, hosts or providers; garbled, jumbled or faulty data transmissions; failure of any email transmissions to be sent or received; lost, late, delayed or intercepted email transmissions; inaccessibility of the Contest site in whole or in part for any reason; traffic congestion on the Internet or the Contest site; unauthorized human or non-human intervention of the operation of the Contest, including without limitation, unauthorized tampering, hacking, theft, virus, bugs, worms; or destruction of any aspect of the Contest, or loss, miscount, misdirection, inaccessibility or unavailability of an email account used in connection with the Contest.

Contest Sponsors are not responsible for any typographical errors in the announcement of prizes or these Official Contest Rules, or any inaccurate or incorrect data contained on the Contest site. Use of Contest site is at user's own risk. Contest Sponsors are not responsible for any personal injury or property damage or losses of any kind which may be sustained to user’s or any other person's computer equipment resulting from participation in the Contest, use of the Contest site or the downloading of any information from the Contest site. By participating in the Contest, the Contestant releases the Contest Sponsors from any and all claims, damages or liabilities arising from or relating to such Contestant’s participation in the Contest.