MySears.com and MyKmart.com Halloween Costume Photo and Essay Contest Official Rules
Sep
30
2009
MySears.com and MyKmart.com Halloween Costume Photo and Essay Contest
OFFICIAL RULES
NO PURCHASE NECESSARY
1. DESCRIPTION OF THE CONTEST: The MySears.com and MyKmart.com Halloween Costume Photo and Essay Contest (“Contest”) is designed to give entrants the opportunity to submit a photo and brief essay showing the connection between their Halloween costume and either the Sears or Kmart brands to Sears Holdings Management Corporation (“Sponsor”). Prizes will be awarded to the entrants who submit the best entries as determined by the judges and voters in accordance with these Official Rules.
2. ELIGIBILITY: This Contest is open only to residents of the United States who are 18 or older at the time of entry and are registered users of either www.mysears.com or www.mykmart.com at the time of entry. Void where prohibited by law. Employees of Sponsor, its parent companies, affiliates and subsidiaries, its participating advertising and promotion agencies as well as members of their families and/or those living in the same household as such individuals are not eligible to enter. You must also have access to the Internet and a valid email address in order to enter. By entering, submitting content, and/or uploading a photo and/or essay, you agree that you have read and consent to be bound by these Official Rules, Sponsor’s privacy policy, available at http://www.mysears.com/privacy_policy and http://www.mykmart.com/privacy_policy) Eligibility is conditioned on the acceptance of these Official Rules at time of submission.
3. HOW TO ENTER: This Contest begins at 12 a.m. Central Time on October 1, 2009 and ends on 11:59 p.m. on November 6, 2009 (“Contest Period”). To enter, go to http://blogs.mysears.com/2009/09/mysearscom-halloween-costume-contest.html or http://blogs.mykmart.com/2009/09/mykmartcom-halloween-costume-contest.html (the “Contest Site”) and follow the onscreen instructions for submitting one photo and brief essay to Sponsor via electronic mail. Contestants will be invited to submit one (1) photo showing their Halloween costume along with one (1) brief essay explaining the connection between that Halloween costume and the Sears or Kmart brands (“Submission”). Submissions may be made beginning at 12 a.m. Central Time on October 1, 2009 and must be received no later than 11:59 p.m. Central Time on November 1, 2009 (“Submission Period”). Limit one entry per person. Subsequent Submissions will be disqualified. Retain a copy of your Submission in its original format after submitting it to Sponsor. If you are a winner, you may need to provide Sponsor with your Submission in its original format. Failure to do so may result in disqualification, and the selection of an alternate winner.
4. SUBMISSION REQUIREMENTS: Each Submission must include no more than one (1) photo showing entrant’s Halloween costume along with one (1) brief essay explaining the connection between that Halloween costume and the Sears or Kmart brands. Each Submission must also comply with the following:
A. Each Submission must meet Sears.com’s technical requirements for uploading. Recommended formats for photos include JPEG or GIF. Photos should not exceed 5 megabytes in size. Essays should not exceed 2000 characters in length. Submissions (including both photo and essay components) should not exceed 6 megabytes in size. Any Submission that exceeds the recommended size limitations for the photo component, the essay component, or total file size may be disqualified at any time in Sponsor’s sole and unfettered discretion. Any Submission that fails to meet the Sponsor’s specifications may be disqualified at any time in Sponsor’s sole and unfettered discretion.
B. The Submission must be your own original work, created solely by you, and must not infringe the copyright, trademark, privacy, publicity, or other personal or proprietary rights of any person or entity.
C. If any persons appear or are referred to in the Submission, you are solely responsible for obtaining, prior to submitting your Submission, any and all releases and consents necessary to permit the exhibition and use of the Submission by Sponsor, including, but not limited to, the right to make screenshots, animations and video clips available to the public for advertising, promotional and publicity purposes. If any person appearing in any Submission is under the age of majority in their state, country or province of residence, the signature of a parent or legal guardian is required on each release.
D.Submissions that are lewd, obscene, sexually explicit, pornographic, disparaging, defamatory, libelous, obscene, or Submissions that otherwise contain inappropriate content or objectionable material may not be submitted and may be removed at any time in Sponsor’s sole and unfettered discretion.
E.The Submission must not contain any personally identifiable information of any person other than yourself. Should you include personally identifiable information about yourself in your Submission, you acknowledge and agree that such information will be disclosed publicly and you are solely responsible for any consequences thereof.
F. You may not be, nor may you work with parties in conjunction with your Submissions who are: 1) represented under contract (e.g., by a talent agent or manager) that would limit or impair Sponsor’s ability to display your Submission in any media form; 2) subject to an acting or modeling contract that would make your/their appearance in the Submission a violation of any third-party rights; or 3) under any other contractual relationship, including but not limited to guild and/or union memberships, that may prevent Sponsor from being able to use the Submissions worldwide in all media in perpetuity on a royalty-free basis, without any payment or fee obligations.
Sponsor reserves the right in its sole and unfettered discretion to disqualify any Submission that it believes violates or potentially violates any of the foregoing requirements or otherwise fails to comply with any provision of these Official Rules or the terms of service for the Contest Site. The decision of the Sponsor on this and all matters pertaining to the Contest shall be final and binding.
5. JUDGING:
A. Phase One: A panel of judges made up of Sponsor employees (the “Judges”) will review the Submissions and select five (5) finalist entries for the Kmart brand (“Kmart Finalists”) and five finalist (5) entries for the Sears brand (“Sears Finalists”) based on the following judging criteria: (1) creativity of the Submission (75%); and (2) communication of the relationship to the Sears or Kmart brands (25%) (the “Judging Criteria”). In the event of a tie, the Submission among the tied entries with the highest score in “creativity” will be deemed a potential finalist entry. Potential finalist entries are subject to verification of eligibility and compliance with the Official Rules and Terms of Service for the Contest. Kmart Finalist entries and Sears Finalist entries may be displayed on the Contest Site in perpetuity.
B. Phase Two: From 12:00 a.m. on November 2, 2009 through 11:59 p.m. on November 6, 2009, registered users of mysears.com will be able to vote for the Sears Finalist Submission of their choice. Votes generated automatically, by software script or otherwise, may be disqualified as determined by Sponsor in its sole discretion. From 12:00 a.m. on November 2, 2009 through 11:59 p.m. on November 6, 2009, registered users of mykmart.com will be able to vote for the Kmart Finalist Submission of their choice. The Sears Finalist Submission with the highest number of votes, as determined by Sponsor, whose decisions are final on this issue, will be deemed the Sears Grand Prize Winner, subject to verification of eligibility and compliance with the Official Rules and Terms of Service for the Contest. The Kmart Finalist Submission with the highest number of votes, as determined by Sponsor, whose decisions are final on this issue, will be deemed the Kmart Grand Prize Winner, subject to verification of eligibility and compliance with the Official Rules and Terms of Service for the Contest. In the event of a tie, the tied candidates will be announced on the Contest Site and votes will be accepted for those candidates only for a 24-hour period. Decisions of Sponsor are final and binding. The Prize Winners will be announced on or about November 7, 2009 at 12:00 p.m. Central Time and displayed on the Contest Site on or about November 7, 2009 at 12:00 p.m. Central Time.
6. PRIZES AND APPROXIMATE RETAIL VALUES:
A. One (1) Sears Grand Prize: $100.00 Sears Gift Card. Gift card restrictions may apply. Approximate Retail Value (“ARV”) of Sears Grand Prize: $100.
B. One (1) Kmart Grand Prize: $100.00 Sears Gift Card. Gift card restrictions may apply. ARV of Kmart Grand Prize: $100.
ARV of all prizes: $200. All expenses not specified herein are the responsibility of the winner. ALL TAXES AND ANY APPLICABLE WITHHOLDING AND REPORTING REQUIREMENTS ARE THE SOLE RESPONSIBILITY OF THE WINNER.
7. CONDITIONS OF PARTICIPATION. All federal, state, provincial and local laws and regulations apply. Submission of entry into this Contest constitutes entrant’s agreement to be bound by the terms of these Official Rules and by the decisions of Sponsor, which are final and binding on all matters pertaining to this Contest. Return of any prize/prize notification may result in disqualification and selection of an alternate winner. Any potential winner who cannot be contacted within two (2) days of first attempted notification will forfeit his/her prize. Potential prize winner may be required to sign and return an Affidavit of Eligibility/Liability & Publicity Release within two (2) days following the date of first attempted notification. Failure to comply within this time period may result in disqualification and selection of an alternate winner. The intellectual rights to the Submission, if any, will remain with the Entrants, except that these terms do not supersede any other assignment or grant of rights according to any other separate agreements between Entrants and other parties. As a condition of entry, Entrants agree that Sponsor shall have the right to use, copy, modify and make available the Submission in connection with the operation, conduct, administration, and advertising and promotion of the Contest via communication to the public, including, but not limited to the right to make screenshots, animations and video clips available to the public for promotional and publicity purposes. Acceptance of the prize constitutes permission for, and winner’s consent to, Sponsor and its agencies to use the winner’s name, likeness and/or entry for advertising and promotional purposes without additional compensation, unless prohibited by law. To the extent permitted by law, Entrants and voters agree to hold Sponsor, and each of its parent, subsidiaries, agents, directors, officers, employees, representatives, and assigns harmless from any injury or damage caused or claimed to be caused by participation in the Contest and/or use or acceptance of any prize won, except to the extent that any death or personal injury is caused by the negligence of the Sponsor. Sponsor is not responsible for any typographical or other error in the printing of the offer, administration of the Contest or in the announcement of the prize. An Entrant and/or voter may be prohibited from participating in this Contest if, in the Sponsor’s sole discretion, it reasonably believes that the Entrant and/or voter has attempted to undermine the legitimate operation of this Contest by cheating, deception, or other unfair playing practices or annoys, abuses, threatens or harasses any other Entrants, other voters, the Sponsor or associated agencies.
8. NO RECOURSE TO JUDICIAL OR OTHER PROCEDURES: To the extent permitted by law, the rights to litigate, to seek injunctive relief or to make any other recourse to judicial or any other procedure in case of disputes or claims resulting from or in connection with this Contest are hereby excluded, and any Entrant and/or voter expressly waives any and all such rights. Entrants and/or voters agree that these Official Rules are governed by the laws of Illinois.
9. WARRANTY AND INDEMNITY: Entrants certify that their Submission is original and that they are the sole and exclusive owner and right holder of the submitted Submission and that they have the right to submit the Submission in the Contest. Each Entrant agrees not to submit any Submission that (1) infringes any third party proprietary, intellectual property, industrial property, personal rights or other rights, including without limitation, copyright, trademark, patent, trade secret or confidentiality obligation; (2) includes any personally identifiable information or (3) otherwise violates applicable law in any countries in the world. To the maximum extent permitted by law, each Entrant indemnifies and agrees to keep indemnified the Sponsor at all times from and against any liability, claims, demands, losses, damages, costs and expenses resulting from any act, default or omission of the Entrant and/or a breach of any warranty set forth herein. To the maximum extent permitted by law, each Entrant indemnifies and agrees to keep indemnified the Sponsor at all times from and against any liability, actions, claims, demands, losses, damages, costs and expenses for or in respect of which the Sponsor may become liable by reason of or related or incidental to any act, default or omission by an Entrant under these Official Rules including without limitation resulting from or in relation to any breach, non-observance, act or omission whether negligent or otherwise, pursuant to these official rules by an Entrant.
10. ELIMINATION: Any false information provided within the context of the Contest by any Entrant concerning identity, postal address, telephone number, ownership of right or noncompliance with these rules or the like may result in the immediate elimination of the Entrant from the Contest. Sponsor further reserves the right to disqualify any Entry that it believes in its sole and unfettered discretion infringes upon or violates the rights of any third party or otherwise does not comply with these official rules.
11. INTERNET: Sponsor is not responsible for electronic transmission errors resulting in omission, interruption, deletion, defect, delay in operations or transmission. Sponsor is not responsible for theft or destruction or unauthorized access to or alterations of entry materials, or for technical, network, telephone equipment, electronic, computer, hardware or software malfunctions or limitations of any kind. Sponsor is not responsible for inaccurate transmissions of or failure to receive entry information by Sponsor on account of technical problems or traffic congestion on the Internet or at any Web site or any combination thereof, except to the extent that any death or personal injury is caused by the negligence of the Sponsor. If for any reason the Internet portion of the program is not capable of running as planned, including infection by computer virus, bugs, tampering, unauthorized intervention, fraud, technical failures, disruption or termination of the Contest site for any reason or any other causes which corrupt or affect the administration, security, fairness, integrity, or proper conduct of this Contest. Sponsor reserves the right at its sole discretion to immediately cancel, terminate, modify or suspend the Contest. Sponsor reserves the right to select winners from eligible entries received as of the termination date. Sponsor further reserves the right to disqualify any individual who tampers with the entry process. Caution: Any attempt by an Entrant and/or voter 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, Sponsor reserves the right to seek damages from any such Entrant and/or voter to the fullest extent of the law.
12. SEVERABILITY: If any provision(s) of these Official Rules are held to be invalid or unenforceable, all remaining provisions hereof will remain in full force and effect.
13. WINNER’S LIST: For winner’s name, visit http://blogs.mysears.com and http://blogs.mykmart.com between November 3, 2009 and December 30, 2009.
14. SPONSOR: Sears Holdings Management Corporation, 3333 Beverly Road, Hoffman Estates, Illinois 60179.
