“Why My High School Needs a Student Newspaper
Contest”
Sponsored by the American Society of Newspaper Editors
(HSJ.org)
NO PURCHASE NECESSARY TO ENTER OR WIN A PRIZE. A
PURCHASE WILL NOT INCREASE YOUR CHANCES OF WINNING. VOID WHERE PROHIBITED
OR RESTRICTED BY LAW.
Entry Period: The “Why My High School Needs a Student
Newspaper Contest" (the “Contest”) commences at 12:00:01
AM (ET) on April 14, 2008 and ends at 11:59:59 P.M. (ET) on June 2,
2008 (the “Contest Period”). All entries must be received
by 11:59:59 P.M. (ET) on June 2, 2008.
Eligibility: The
Contest is open to legal residents of the 50 United States and District of
Columbia. Entrants must be at
least 14 years of age or older at time of entry and a full-time high school
student. Entrants who are not yet at the age of majority in the jurisdiction
in which they reside will be required to obtain parental or legal guardian
consent to be eligible to enter the Contest. Employees (and their immediate
families i.e., parents, spouse, children, siblings, grandparents,
step parents, step children and step siblings) of MTVN and Sponsor and each
of their respective affiliated companies, sponsors, subsidiaries, advertising
agencies, third party fulfillment agencies and any person who has won an
MTVN or Sponsor sweepstakes or contest in the preceding twelve (12) month
period, are not eligible to enter the Contest. By participating in this Contest,
entrants: (a) agree to be bound by these Official Rules and by the interpretations
of these Official Rules by Sponsor, and by the decisions of Sponsor, which
are final in all matters relating to the Contest; (b) to release and hold
harmless the Sponsors and their respective agents, employees, officers, directors,
successors and assigns, against any and all claims, injury or damage arising
out of or relating to participation in this Contest and/or the use or misuse
or redemption of a prize, and from any claims based on publicity rights,
defamation, invasion of privacy, copyright infringement, trademark infringement
or any other intellectual property related causes of action; and (c) acknowledge
compliance with these Official Rules.
To Enter: To enter the Contest go to www.think.mtv.com,
a web site owned and controlled by MTVN, at any time during the Contest Period
to complete the Contest form as follows:
Read the Official Rules;
Register with Think MTV to enter the Contest;
Use the blog post functionality to submit an original essay (up to 300
words) explaining why your high school needs a student newspaper based on
the selection criteria set forth in Rule 6 below. You may (but are
not required to) submit a Contest form with audio or image files to support
your essay. Audio and image files shall not be longer than 3 minutes
and files must not exceed 100 MB. Include files as an attachment when
submitting essay;
Once you have posted your blog (along with, if you choose, an audio file
and/or video file) click on the link directing you to fill out a Contest
form. Complete all required fields on the online Contest form, including
posting the url address for any uploaded material; and
Tag the Contest form with “High School Journalism” (together,
the “Materials”)
All contents of Materials must be completely original to entrant and must
not have been taken or composed, in whole or in part, from any other source
other than the entrant, including without limitation all graphic, video and
musical elements, imagery and artwork appearing in the Materials and must
be free and clear of any liens or claims with respect to the use of the Materials
in the manner authorized herein, including, but not limited to claims in
connection with music synchronization rights, and that such use authorized
herein will not give rise to any claims of infringement, invasion of privacy
or publicity or claims for any payment whatsoever including, but not limited
to claims for re-use fees or residuals. In addition, Materials, or any part
thereof must not have been released commercially in order to be eligible
to enter Contest. Materials which contain materials that are not the original
work of the entrant, or are illegible or incomplete will not be accepted.
Entrants shall have no right of approval, no claim of compensation and no
claim (including, without limitation, claims based on invasion of privacy,
defamation or right of publicity) arising out of any use, blurring, alteration,
or use in composite form of your name, picture, likeness, biographical information
or Materials. The rights granted hereunder shall extend to Sponsors and their
respective affiliated companies with respect to all entrants, including the
Winners (as defined hereafter) and those entrants who are not selected as Winners.
Sponsors are under no obligation to use the winning Materials for any purpose.
Materials: Entrants
agree that that their Materials shall be a “work for hire”, with all rights therein, including without
limitation, the exclusive copyright, being the property of the Sponsors and
in the event the Materials is not considered to be a “work for hire”,
entrants irrevocably assign to the Sponsors all right, title and interest
in their Materials (including, without limitation, the copyright) in any
and all media whether now known or hereafter devised, in perpetuity, anywhere
in the world, with the right to make any and all uses thereof, including,
without limitation, for purposes of advertising or trade. Materials may be
used by the Sponsors and their representatives, affiliates and licensees
in whole or in part for any purpose whatsoever without any compensation to
Winners, including but not limited to the unconditional right to exhibit,
broadcast, copy, reproduce, encode, compress, encrypt, incorporate data into,
edit, rebroadcast, transmit, record, publicly perform, create derivate works
of, and distribute and synchronize in time related to visual elements, the
materials contained in the Winners Materials and/or any portion or excerpts
thereof, in any manner, an unlimited number of times, in perpetuity, in any
and all media, now known or hereafter devised.
Materials shall not contain, include or involve any of the
following:
Obscenity
Crude, vulgar or offensive pictures, depictions, images, language and/or
symbols
Gang signs or symbols
Violence, gun or other imagery or gestures of weapons.
Nudity
Explicit, graphic or excessive sexual activity
Commercial products (e.g., clothing, toys, food) and/or their trademarks,
brands, logos or endorsements
Hard liquor use or product images
License plates, phone numbers, personal addresses – physical or
email or otherwise
Website or web page links
Illegal drug or alcohol use or abuse
Derogatory characterizations of any ethnic, racial, sexual or religious
groups, humiliate other people (publicly or otherwise), any assault or
threatening of others
Trespass or the violation of other people’s rights or property
Illegal (e.g., discriminatory, harassing) or inappropriate activity,
behavior or conduct (e.g., inflicting emotional distress)
Conduct or activities in violation of these Official Rules
Any other content, display, materials and/or images that are or could
be considered inappropriate, unsuitable or offensive, as determined by
MTVN, in its sole discretion
Language contained in Materials will be evaluated by Sponsors based on the
terms and conditions set forth in these Official Rules.
In submitting an entry into this Contest, each entrant agrees to, confirms
and represents to the Sponsors that neither he/she nor anyone else has engaged
or taken part in (or induced or encouraged anyone else to do so) in any activity
or conduct in connection with this Contest that: (i) may or is likely to
harm or create a risk of harm, physical or mental injury, emotional distress,
death, disability, disfigurement, or physical or mental illness to any person,
other living thing or any property; (ii) may or is likely to create a risk
of any other loss or damage to person, living things or property; (iii) is
or may constitute a crime, unlawful or non-consensual activities (e.g.,
conduct that could lead to criminal prosecution), tortious conduct (e.g.,
conduct that could lead to civil prosecution) or the violation or infringement
of the rights of any other party; or (iv) violates any of the terms or conditions
of these Official Rules. The Sponsors are not obligated to use, publish,
display or broadcast any Materials submitted; provided however that
each entrant acknowledges that the Sponsors will rely on such entrant’s
agreement and compliance with these Official Rules when entrant submits or
attempts to submit the entry. The Sponsors (and any and all of their
subsidiaries and affiliates and affiliated broadcast stations and networks)
shall have the right to use any Materials submitted pursuant to these Official
Rules in or on the Web Site, and in or on any other program, programming
channel, broadcast or other public display and performance, at any time in
the future, without notice and without compensation, royalty, accounting,
liability or obligation of any kind to any entrant.
Sponsors reserve the
right to reject any entries that it deems, in its sole discretion, to violate
any of the policies of Sponsors’ “Standards
and Practices Guidelines.” Sponsors may modify or edit any Materials
related to a Contest entry or request entrants to do so, so that such Materials
meet such guidelines.
All entries submitted in accordance with these Official
Rules shall be collectively hereinafter referred to as the “Eligible
Entries”. Limit
one (1) entry per person. If an entrant uses multiple email addresses to
submit more than one (1) entry, only the first entry will count. In the event
of a dispute over who submitted the winning online entry, the authorized,
account subscriber of the e-mail account used to participate in the Contest
at the actual time of entry, will be deemed to be the entrant. The authorized
account subscriber is defined as the natural person who is assigned an e-mail
address by an Internet access provider, online service provider or other
organization (e.g., business, education institution, etc.) that is responsible
for assigning e-mail addresses for the domain associated with the submitted
e-mail address. Incomplete or inaccurate entries are void. The official
judging panel will be comprised of representatives from MTVN and the Sponsor
(collectively the “Judges”), and the entries will be judged based
on the judging criteria set forth in Rule 6 below. The final determination
of the Winners and the application of the judging criteria shall be in the
sole and absolute discretion of the Judges. In the event of a tie or dispute
or for any other reason that Sponsor deems necessary during any round of
the Contest, determination of the Winners shall be made by Sponsor. To the
extent permitted by law, Sponsors and Judges disclaim any liability from,
and entrants, whether or not a Winner, agree to waive, any claims against
Sponsors and Judges relating to the judging or awarding process. Sponsor
reserves the right to delay the announcement of the Winners in its sole discretion. All
entries, Materials, and other submissions, if any, become the property of
Sponsors and will not be acknowledged or returned.
Judging Criteria: The
Judges will judge the Eligible Entries based on (i) originality and creativity
of Materials, (ii) how committed entrant is to the study of journalism and
his/her understanding of the First Amendment and (iii) how well entrant demonstrates
his/her command of language and grammar. Judges reserve the right to conduct
phone interviews with the entrants. The Judges also reserve the right to
extend the Contest Period or not to award the prizes if they determine, in
their sole discretion, that entries received did not meet the qualification
standards based on the judging criteria.
Finalist Selection/Notification/Verification: Based
upon the highest score in the judging criteria set forth above, three (3)
entrants will be selected from among all Eligible Entries to be recognized
as the Winners. Total number of Winners may vary based on the number
of Eligible Entries received.
In the event of a tie, the entrant with the highest score in (i) will be
the Winner and then continuing thereafter (ii)-(iii) until the Winner is
determined. All
potential Winners are subject to verification. Judges’ decisions are
final.
Sponsor will attempt to contact each potential Winner by phone. Sponsor
will make up to two (2) attempts over the 24 hour period following each Winner
selection. If a potential Winner cannot be reached during the 24 hour period
in which he/she is called the potential Winner will be disqualified and an
alternative Winner may be selected from among the remaining Eligible Entries
in Sponsor’s
sole discretion.
The potential Winners must prove eligibility, including, without limitation,
proof of age and residence within 24 hours of being notified as a potential
Winner. In the event of non-compliance by the potential Winner such potential
Winner shall be disqualified and all privileges otherwise due a potential
Winner shall be terminated and an alternative potential Winner may be chosen
from among the remaining Eligible Entries received in Sponsor’s sole discretion.
The Winners must sign (or, if a minor, have his/her parent or legal
guardian sign) within three (3) days of receipt of such documents from
Sponsors: (a) an affidavit of eligibility and release of Sponsors and their
respective officers, directors, employees, agents, members, affiliated companies
and subsidiaries, from any and all liability, loss, claims, demands, and causes
of action for personal injury and/or damage, theft, loss, or any other harm
suffered in connection with this Contest and for any claim based on publicity
rights, defamation, invasion of privacy, copyright infringement, trademark
infringement or any other intellectual property related cause of action and, the
use/misuse or acceptance of any prize or any portion thereof, to be eligible
for the prize; (b) except where prohibited by law, a promotional release granting
Sponsors the right to use their name and likeness for advertising and publicity
purpose without additional compensation, and (c) an assignment of rights in
and to all Winner Materials. Winners agree to the foregoing and in addition
the Winners agree to obtain, upon request of Sponsors any documentation and
releases necessary to prove their unrestricted ownership in all materials contained
in their Winner Material and MTVN’s right to use such materials, in whole
or in part, without limitation in all media and for any purpose whatsoever
without compensation. Entry into this Contest constitutes agreement to sign
such releases. Winners if under the age of 18, must also comply with
any and all applicable child labor law regulations. Winners also must acknowledge
that Sponsors have not and will not obtain or provide insurance of any kind
relating to the prizes and that Winners (or, if a minor, his/her parent or
legal guardian) will be responsible for obtaining and paying for any form of
insurance relating to the prizes. Winners (or, if a minor, his/her
parent or legal guardian) must also complete any additional legal documents
provided by Sponsors (or third party on its behalf, if applicable) with respect
to the prizes and return them as instructed within the time frame specified
by Sponsors. Sponsors expressly reserve the right to delay the announcement
of the Winners for creative or technical reasons or for any other reason
MTVN deems necessary.
To be eligible to receive a Grant, the High School must be an exempt organization
under Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code and must not have a
school newspaper. Winners must submit confirmation of the selected High School
prior to claiming their prize. Grants will be awarded in the form of
a check made payable to the High School upon verification of both Winner’s
eligibility and the High School’s status.
General Prize Terms: The ARV for each Winner
Prize is $800.00 and is subject to change based on current market conditions
at the time of Winner Prize fulfillment. Any difference between the
ARV and the actual value, if any, will not be rewarded. Arrangements for
fulfillment of the Grant and Winner Prizes will be made by Sponsor. The
value of the Winner Prizes may be taxable to a Winner as income. Winners
must supply Sponsor with his/her social security number for tax purposes.
An IRS Form 1099 will be issued in the name of the Winner, or, if a minor,
in the name of his/her parent or legal guardian, for the actual value of
the Winner Prize received. Upon receipt of any Winner Prize, each Winner
(as well as all other entrants) is required to comply with any and all applicable
federal, state, and local laws, rules, and regulations. All federal, state
and local taxes, and any other costs not specifically provided for in these
Official Rules are solely the each Winner’s responsibility. Sponsors
shall have no responsibility or obligation to a Winner or potential Winner
who is unable or unavailable to accept or utilize Winner Prize as described
herein. No substitution, transfer or cash equivalent of the Winner
Prize or any portion thereof permitted, except by Sponsor, in which case
a prize of equal or greater value may be awarded.
General Terms: Noncompliance with any of these
Official Rules may result in disqualification. ANY VIOLATION OF THESE
OFFICIAL RULES BY A WINNER OR ANY BEHAVIOR BY A WINNER THAT WILL BRING SUCH
WINNER OR CONTEST ENTITY INTO DISREPUTE (IN SPONSORS’ SOLE DISCRETION)
WILL RESULT IN SUCH WINNER’S DISQUALIFICATION AS A WINNER OF WHY MY
HIGH SCHOOL NEEDS A STUDENT NEWSPAPER CONTEST AND ALL PRIVILEGES AS A PRIZE
WINNER WILL BE IMMEDIATELY TERMINATED.
The Sponsors assume no responsibility for incorrect or inaccurate entry
information whether caused by any of the equipment or programming associated
with or utilized in this Contest or by any human error which may occur in
the processing of the entries in this Contest. The Sponsors are not responsible
for any problems or technical malfunction of any telephone network or lines,
computer online systems, servers, or providers, computer equipment, software,
failure of any e-mail or players on account of technical problems or traffic
congestion on the Internet or at any web site, or any combination thereof,
including, without limitation, any injury or damage to participant's or any
other person's computer related to or resulting from participation or downloading
any materials in this Contest. The Sponsors are not responsible for any typographical
or other error in the printing of the offer, administration of the Contest,
or in the announcement of the Winners. 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 beyond the control of the Sponsors which corrupt
or affect the administration, security, fairness, integrity or proper conduct
of this Contest, the Sponsors reserve the right in their sole discretion to
cancel, terminate, modify or suspend the Contest. Should the Contest
be terminated prior to the stated expiration date, notice will be posted
on think.mtv.com and
the Winner Prizes and Grants may be awarded to potential Winners to be selected
from among all Eligible Entries received up until and/or after (if applicable)
the time of modification, cancellation or termination. All interpretations
of these Official Rules and decisions by Sponsor are final. No software-generated,
robotic, programmed, script, macro or other automated online or text message
entries are permitted and will result in disqualification of all such entries.
The Sponsors reserve the right in their sole discretion to disqualify any individual
they find to have tampered with the entry process or the operation of this
Contest; to be acting in violation of these Official Rules; or to be acting
in an unsportsmanlike or disruptive manner, or with intent to annoy, abuse,
threaten or harass any other person or to have provided inaccurate information
on any legal documents submitted in connection with this Contest. CAUTION: ANY
ATTEMPT BY ANY INDIVIDUAL TO DELIBERATELY DAMAGE ANY WEB SITE OR UNDERMINE
THE LEGITIMATE OPERATION OF THE CONTEST IS A VIOLATION OF CRIMINAL AND CIVIL
LAWS AND SHOULD SUCH AN ATTEMPT BE MADE, MTVN RESERVES THE RIGHT TO SEEK DAMAGES
FROM ANY SUCH INDIVIDUAL TO THE FULLEST EXTENT PERMITTED BY LAW. THE
NEW YORK COURTS (STATE AND FEDERAL) SHALL HAVE SOLE JURISDICTION OF ANY CONTROVERSIES
REGARDING THE CONTEST AND THE LAWS OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK SHALL GOVERN THE
CONTEST. EACH ENTRANT WAIVES ANY AND ALL OBJECTIONS TO JURISDICTION
AND VENUE IN THESE COURTS AND HEREBY SUBMITS TO THE JURISDICTION OF THOSE
COURTS. Entrants agree to indemnify and hold harmless the Sponsors from any
and all liability resulting or arising from the Contest, to release all rights
to bring any claim, action or proceeding against the Sponsors, and hereby
acknowledge that said Sponsors have neither made nor are in any manner responsible
or liable for any warranty, representation or guarantee, express or implied,
in fact or in law, relative to a Winner Prize including express warranties,
provided exclusively by a prize supplier that are sent along with the Winner
Prizes.
Materials become the property of the Sponsors and will not be acknowledged
or returned. The Sponsors will have the right to photograph and/or film any
Winner. Entry constitutes a grant of permission to Sponsors and their respective
licensees, and those they may designate from time to time, to use each Winner’s
name, picture, likeness, voice and conversation, including quotes, paraphrases
and sounds, and city and state of residence, and all Materials, including,
but not limited to, modifying, altering or amending any such Materials for
purposes of trade, publicity or promotion, in all media whether now known or
later developed, for no additional compensation (except where prohibited by
law). Submission of any entry constitutes entrant’s consent (and, with
respect to entrants under the age of majority in the jurisdiction in which
they reside, that his/her parent/legal guardian) to irrevocably assign to
the Sponsors any and all right to Materials, including, but not limited,
to all intellectual property rights therein.
Past experience has confirmed that contests and other competitions generate
substantially similar submissions or entries which closely resemble concepts
and ideas that have been independently developed by Sponsors before or after
the Contest. Accordingly, entrants may subsequently see a Contest Entity
presentation which seemingly incorporates an idea or concept or includes materials
similar to that contained in their entries. Any similarity is purely coincidental
and unavoidable in light of the volume of ideas which Sponsors routinely considers
in the course of their program development. Because of this possibility,
entrants hereby agree to submit their entries under the following terms and
conditions: (a) that Sponsors may use any ideas, concepts, material, in whole
or in part, contained in an entry; (b) that all physical materials submitted
become the property of Sponsors and will not be returned; (c) that all materials
submitted are free from any lien or claim by anyone, including, but not limited
to any union, guild or performance rights society; (d) entrants have obtained
all rights, permissions and licenses necessary for Sponsors to use the entries
for any purpose; (e) that no entry or any part thereof infringes any trademark
or copyright or otherwise violates anyone’s right of privacy or publicity;
and (f) entrants indemnify and hold harmless Sponsors and their respective
parent companies, officers, directors, employees, agents, members, affiliated
companies and subsidiaries from any claims, suits, losses damages and expenses
(including reasonable attorneys’ fees) that arise from any breach of
the following conditions. Entrants agree to the foregoing and in addition
agree to obtain, upon request of Sponsors any documentation and releases necessary
to prove their unrestricted ownership in all Materials and Sponsors
right to use such Materials, in whole or in part, without limitation in all
media and for any purpose whatsoever without compensation.
Request for Names of Grand Prize Winners and Official Rules: For
the names of the Grand Prize Winners and/or Official Rules, send a self-addressed
stamped envelope to:
“Who My High School Needs a Student Newspaper Contest"
Attn: Diana Mitsu Klos
11690-B Sunrise Valley Drive
Reston, VA 20191
All requests for a copy of the Official Rules and requests for names of
the Grand Prize Winners must be made by June 2, 2008. Please note on the
front left- hand corner of your outer envelope whether you are requesting "Official
Rules" or the names of the “Grand Prize Winners." Vermont
residents may omit return postage if requesting a set of Official Rules.
This Contest is sponsored by the American Society of Newspaper Editors,
11690-B Sunrise Valley Drive, Reston, VA 20191.
Funded by the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation
