“2015 Audubon Worst Bird Pic” Instagram Contest

ELIGIBILITY: The “2015 Audubon Worst Bird Pic” Instagram Contest (“Contest”) is open to all legal residents of the 50 United States, the District of Columbia, and Canada (excluding Quebec) who are 13 years of age or older as of March 19, 2015 (“Entrants”). Employees, officers, and directors of National Audubon Society, Inc. (“Audubon”) or their respective parents, subsidiaries, divisions, trustees, Contest prize providers and distributors, advertising and promotion agencies associated with the Contest, and any and all entities directly associated with the Contest, including immediate family members and members of the same household, are not eligible to participate (collectively with Audubon, the “Contest Entities”). Void where prohibited by law. Contest is governed by U.S. law and subject to all applicable federal, state and local laws and regulations. By entering the Contest, entrants agree to accept and be bound by all terms of these Official Rules and Regulations (“Official Rules”).

HOW TO ENTER: From 12:00:01 p.m. Eastern Time (“ET”) on March 19, 2015 through 12:59:59 p.m. ET on March 24, 2015 (the “Entry Period”), Audubon will conduct a Contest encouraging Entrants to submit their “worst bird picture” via Instagram.  To enter, an Entrant must: (i) Log on to Instagram;(ii) Follow @audubonsociety’s account (if entrant is not already a follower) (iii) Share their “worst bird picture”; (iv) tag @audubonsociety in the comment (v) Use the hashtag #WorstBirdPic in the comment.

GENERAL CONDITIONS:  Entrant warrants and represents: (a) he/she is the sole and exclusive author and owner of the Submission and all rights therein; (b) he/she has the full and exclusive right, power and authority to submit the Submission and to grant the Contest Entities the rights to the Submission herein granted, including but not limited to the worldwide copyright license, upon the terms and conditions set forth herein; (c) his/her Submission does not defame or invade publicity rights or the privacy of any person, living or deceased, or otherwise infringe upon any third party’s copyright, trademark or any other personal or property rights.  Audubon reserves the right in its sole discretion to disqualify any Submission at any time in the event it is determined Submission is offensive, inappropriate, not in keeping with Audubon’s image or if it is determined that the entrant has not otherwise complied with any portion of these Official Rules.  If the Submission contains any material or elements that are not owned by the Entrant and/or which are subject to the rights of third parties, the Entrant is responsible for obtaining, prior to submission of the Submission, any and all releases and consents necessary to permit the use and exhibition of the Submission by Audubon in the manner set forth in these Official Rules, including, without limitation, permission to use the name and likeness of any person who appears in or is identifiable in the Submission. Audubon reserves the right to request proof of these permissions in a form acceptable to Audubon from any Entrant at any time.  Entrant shall indemnify, defend and hold harmless the Contest Entities against any claims by any third party related to a breach of any of these General Conditions, including, but not limited to, a claim of ownership of any copyright, trademark or any other personal or property rights, libel, defamation, invasion of privacy, or right of publicity.  Entries generated by script, macro or other automated means will be void. 

The Contest Entities are not responsible for misdirected, incomplete, lost, late, undelivered, inaccurate, illegible, or delayed entries, nor for technical, hardware, or software failures of any kind, lost or unavailable network connections, or failed, incomplete, garbled or delayed computer transmissions or other errors or problems which may limit or affect a person’s ability to participate in the Contest, whether human, mechanical, typographical, printing, electronic, network or otherwise, relating to or in connection with the Contest, including, without limitation, errors which may occur in connection with the administration of the Contest, the processing of Submissions, the announcement of the prize or in any Contest-related materials. In the event of sabotage, acts of God, terrorism or threats thereof, computer virus or other events or causes beyond the Contest Entities’ control, which corrupt the integrity, administration, security or proper operation of the Contest, Audubon reserves the right, in its sole discretion, to modify, cancel or suspend the Contest. In the event of cancellation, Audubon reserves the right to judge all eligible, non-suspect Submissions received prior to the event requiring such cancellation using the judging procedure outlined below. False or deceptive Submissions or acts will render the Entrant ineligible. Each Entrant hereby acknowledges and agrees that the relationship between Entrant and Audubon is not a confidential, fiduciary, or other special relationship, and that entrant’s decision to submit his/her Submission to Audubon for purposes of the Contest does not place Audubon in a position that is any different from the position held by members of the general public with regard to elements of Entrant’s Submission.  By entering this Contest, Entrant acknowledges and agrees that:  (i) Audubon may create on its own or obtain many Submissions under this Contest and that such Submissions may be similar or identical in theme, idea, format or other respects to others submitted under this Contest and/or other contests staged and/or sponsored by Audubon;  (ii) Entrant waives any and all claims Entrant may have had, may have, and/or may have in the future that any Submissions and/or other works accepted, reviewed and/or used by other Entrants and/or Audubon (or its designees) may be similar to Entrant’s Submission;  (iii) Contest Entities and their designees have the right, unless prohibited by law, to use Entrant’s name, city and state of residence, voice, picture and likeness, without compensation, notification or approval, for the purpose of advertising and publicizing the goods and services of the Contest Entities and all matters related to the Contest, in any manner or medium, now or hereafter known, throughout the world in perpetuity;  (iv) Audubon does not have, nor shall have in the future, any duty or liability, direct or indirect, vicarious, contributory, or otherwise, with respect to the infringement or protection of any copyright in and to Entrant’s Submission.

HOW TO WIN/JUDGING: On or about March 24, 2015 winners will be determined by a panel of judges who will review all eligible Submissions received during the Entry Period. The contest will be judged by David Ringer, Director of Messaging at National Audubon Society and an expert birder; Purbita Saha, Assistant Editor at Audubon Magazine and an expert in content creation; Elizabeth Sorrell, Digital Communications at National Audubon Society and a social media expert. There will be three (3) winners determined from among all eligible Submissions received. Winners will be determined by the following criteria: (i) Humor (30 percent); (ii) Originality (30 percent); and (iii) Sharability (40 percent) (the “Score”). The decisions of the judges and Audubon will be final and binding in all matters. The winners will be confirmed by an Instagram message, and must meet all eligibility requirements, including, but not limited to, the timely execution and return of all necessary releases and documents (if any) required by Audubon.

PRIZES: Grand Prize: Three (3) winners will have their photo reshared by the @audubonsociety Instagram account and will also receive “John Shaw’s Guide to Digital Nature Photography.” The maximum Approximate Retail Value (“ARV”) of the Grand Prize is $24.99.

No substitution or transfer of prizes or cash redemptions permitted, except at Audubon’s sole discretion. Audubon reserves the right to substitute for any reason whatsoever a prize (or portion thereof) of comparable or greater value, at their sole discretion. Winners are responsible for the reporting and payment of all taxes as well as any other costs and expenses associated with acceptance and use of their prize not specified herein as being awarded.

PRIZE CONDITIONS:  Winners will be required to sign an Affidavit of Eligibility and Release of Liability and Publicity (the “Releases”) (where allowable) and return same, properly executed, within seven (7) days of issuance of prize notification. Winners will be notified by phone or e-mail, and confirmed via US Mail or other form of home delivery on or about March 25, 2015. Noncompliance within this time period or failure of a potential winner to respond to a notification attempt within five (5) business days of such attempt may result in disqualification and, at Audubon’s sole discretion, an alternate winner may be selected.  If: (i) any prize or prize notification is returned as undeliverable, (ii) a potential winner declines his or her prize, or (iii) a potential winner fails to comply with any of the Official Rules as outlined herein, such potential winner will be disqualified and an alternate winner may be selected by the Judges. The Judges will consider an alternate winner to be the entry [with the next highest score]. If a potential winner is otherwise eligible under these Official Rules, but is nevertheless deemed a minor in his/her state of primary residence, the prize will be awarded in the name of winner’s parent or legal guardian who will be required to execute the Releases on minor’s behalf. With respect to each Entrant’s Submission, Entrants hereby irrevocably grant Audubon a nonexclusive, worldwide, perpetual, royalty-free license to use the Photographs in any manner related to the Contest, including all associated reproduction, distribution, sublicense, derivative works and commercial and non-commercial exploitation rights in any and all media now known or hereafter invented, including, but not limited to: Audubon Magazine and all Audubon websites and blogs, any slideshows, brochures, newsletters, articles, calendars and publications related to the Contest; solicitations by Audubon for the Contest; promotions and communications in connection with the Contest; and physical and digital galleries and exhibitions of Submissions for, and winners of, the Contest, including, at Audubon Centers, Sanctuaries and offices.

By entering this Contest and/or accepting the prize, Entrant and/or winner agrees to, and hereby does, release the Contest Entities, its parent companies, subsidiaries, affiliates and divisions, and their respective directors, employees, officers and agents from any and all liability, loss or damage arising from or in connection with participation or attempt to participate in the Contest and/or the awarding, receipt, use or misuse of the prize or participation in any prize related activities, and claims based on publicity rights, defamation or invasion of privacy. The Contest Entities, subsidiaries, affiliates and divisions, and their respective directors, officers, employees, attorneys, representatives and agents make no warranties, and hereby disclaim all warranties, express or implied, concerning any prize furnished or awarded in connection with the Contest, including, but not limited to, any winner’s ability to claim a prize awarded in the Contest for reasons of the prize provider’s bankruptcy, insolvency or failure to continue its business. WITHOUT LIMITING THE GENERALITY OF THE FOREGOING, SUCH PRIZES ARE PROVIDED “AS IS” WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EITHER EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, AND THE CONTEST ENTITIES HEREBY DISCLAIM ALL SUCH WARRANTIES, INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, THE IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE AND/OR NONINFRINGEMENT.

PRIVACY: Personal information collected from online Entrants is subject to Audubon’s Privacy Policy, which can be found at http://www.audubon.org/privacy-policy; provided, that in the event of any conflict between these Official Rules and such Privacy Policy, the terms and conditions of these Official Rules shall prevail.

WINNER CONFIRMATION: You may obtain the name/city of residence of the winners by mailing a self-addressed stamped envelope to: 2015 Audubon Worst Bird Pic Contest Winner’s List, 225 Varick Street, 7^th Floors, New York, New York 10014, or by emailing audubonmagazine@audubon.org with the subject line “Worse Bird Pic winners’ list.” Requests received after May 4, 2015 will not be honored. 

SPONSOR: National Audubon Society, Inc., 225 Varick Street, 7th Floor, New York, NY 10014