Official Rules

Hudson River Photography Contest
OFFICIAL RULES

1. NO PURCHASE NECESSARY TO ENTER OR TO WIN. A PURCHASE WILL NOT INCREASE YOUR ODDS OF WINNING. ALL FEDERAL, STATE, LOCAL AND MUNICIPAL LAWS AND REGULATIONS APPLY. VOID WHERE PROHIBITED.

2. Eligibility. Subject to the additional restrictions below, the Hudson River Photography Contest (the “Contest”) is open to residents of all ages in Dutchess, Orange, Ulster, Putnam, Columbia or Greene counties in New York State. Employees of Poughkeepsie Journal (“Sponsor”), Gannett Co., Inc., and respective affiliated companies, and advertising and promotional agencies, and the immediate family members of, legal dependents of, and any persons domiciled with, any such employees, are not eligible to participate in the Contest.

3. How to Enter. The Contest will begin at 12:01 a.m. (E.D.T.) on Sunday, October 5, 2008
and end at 11:59 p.m. (E.D.T.) on Wednesday, September 30, 2009 (the “Contest Period”).

To enter, submit a photo that celebrates the “History and/or The Splendor” of the Hudson River and its environment. The photo must include an identifiable landmark, either manmade or natural as proof of location. Upload your entry online by visiting hudsonhappenings.com, clicking on the Photo Contest link, completing all required information and following all posted instructions. Online entries must be accompanied by a digital photograph. Each photo submission must be an authentic, original photograph taken by contestant identified on the accompanying entry form, and the contestant must own the copyright in the photograph submitted. All entries become property of Sponsor and none will be returned. Sponsor will accept only color photos at the highest resolution possible up to and including 2000 pixels along longest edge. Sponsor will accept the formats of jpeg and tiff. The photo should be cropped as the submitting photographer prefers. A short description of the photo including where the picture was taken must be included in the submission. If the photo includes any person or persons other than the entrant, a release form, available at www.hudsonhappenings.com/photocontest, must be filled out and mailed to Poughkeepsie Journal Hudson River Photo Contest, PO Box 1231, Poughkeepsie, NY 12602 along with your name and a photo copy of the photo submitted. Images must not have been digitally altered in any way other than necessary cropping. Mail-in entries will not be accepted.

You may enter the Contest as often as you like but only one (1) prize per person will be awarded.

Sponsor will not be responsible for incomplete, lost, late, misdirected, or for failure to receive entries due to transmission failures or technical failures of any kind, including, without limitation, malfunctioning of any network, hardware or software, whether originating with sender or Sponsor. In the event of a dispute, all online entries will be deemed to have been submitted by the owner of the ISP account from which they were sent. For these purposes, an ISP account holder shall mean the natural person assigned to such ISP account by the Internet access provider, online service provider or other organization responsible for assigning ISP addresses for the domain associated with such ISP account. All entries become property of Sponsor and none will be returned. Contestants acknowledge and agree that Sponsor shall have the right to edit, adapt, modify, reproduce, publish, promote, or otherwise display or use entries in any way it sees fit without limitation or compensation to entrants. Any questions regarding the number of entries submitted or the owner of an ISP account shall be determined by Sponsor in its sole discretion, and Sponsor reserves the right to disqualify any entries by persons determined to be tampering with or abusing any aspect of the Contest. Sponsor further reserves the right to disqualify any entry that is alleged to infringe on any third-party’s intellectual property rights, or that Sponsor deems obscene, offensive or otherwise inappropriate for viewing by a general audience.

4. Winner Selection. One (1) Winner of the Month and One (1) Honorable Mention will be selected each month for Twelve (12) months and One (1) Grand Prize Winner will be selected from all Winners of the Month. Winner of the Month and Honorable Mention will be selected by the Poughkeepsie Journal staff photographers from all eligible entries received during the month according to the following criteria: 25% clarity of photo, 25% composition of photo, 25% unique portrayal of the theme, and 25% emotional impact of the image. The ratings scale for each criterion will range from one (1) to ten (10), with ten (10) being the best score. Judging for Winner of the Month and One (1) Honorable Mention will conclude within 1 week after the end of each month during the Contest Period. Contestants with the highest cumulative score will be designated the Winner of the Month and a second selected entry will be designated Honorable Mention, Grand Prize winner will be judged in the same manner as the Winners of the Month. The first Winner of the Month and Honorable Mention will be selected by November 7, 2008. Grand Prize Winner will be selected on or about October 7, 2009. In the event of a tie, tied entries will be re-judged on the same criteria listed above. Decisions of judges and Sponsor shall be final and binding in all respects.

5. Prizes and Odds. One Grand Prize winner will receive an 11”x 14” framed copy of their photo following conclusion of the contest. Eleven (11) Winners of the Month will each receive an 8” x 10” framed copy of their photo following the conclusion of the Contest. Each of the twelve (12) Honorable Mention winners will receive a matted copy of their photo suitable for framing at the conclusion of the contest. All winners will be included in a story about the contest in the Poughkeepsie Journal to coincide with the Hudson-Fulton-Champlain Quadricentennial and Walkway Over The Hudson celebrations during October 2009.

6. Winner Notification and Acceptance. Winners of the Month and Honorable Mention Winners will be notified on or about the tenth day of the month following the last day of each previous month at the daytime telephone number or email address provided on winner’s entry form. Grand Prize winner will be notified on or about October 10, 2009. Sponsor will call or email during regular business hours at number provided on entry form. Failure to reach winner by phone (after 3 attempts) or by email may result in disqualification of winner, forfeiture of his or her interest in all prizes, and selection of a substitute winner from among all remaining eligible entries. Winners may waive their right to receive prizes. Prizes are nonassignable and nontransferable. No substitutions allowed by winner. Prizes and individual components of prize packages are subject to availability and Sponsor reserves the right to substitute prizes of equal or greater value. Winners are solely responsible for reporting and payment of any taxes on prizes. Winners may be required to complete an affidavit of eligibility/liability certifying that the entrant’s submission is entrant's original work, that entrant owns right to the work, that the submission has not previously won an award or prize in a contest and has not previously been published, and that entrant has complied with the Official Rules of the Contest, and a liability and publicity release (except where prohibited by law) which must be returned within the time designated. Failure to sign and return the affidavit or release within ten (10) days, or to comply with any term or condition of these Official Rules, may result in a winner’s disqualification, the forfeiture of his or her interest in the prize, and the award of the prize to a substitute winner. Prizes won by minors will be awarded to parent or legal guardian who must sign any affidavit or release required by Sponsor. Except where prohibited, acceptance of any prize constitutes winner’s consent to the publication of his or her name, biographical information and likeness in any media for any commercial or promotional purpose, without limitation the Internet, or further compensation. Prizes not won and claimed by eligible winners in accordance with these Official Rules will not be awarded and will remain the property of Sponsor.

7. Participation. By participating, contestants agree to be bound by these Official Rules and the decisions of Sponsor. Sponsor reserves the right to disqualify persons found tampering with or otherwise abusing any aspect of this Contest as solely determined by Sponsor. In the event the Contest is compromised by “a virus, non-authorized human intervention, tampering or other causes beyond the reasonable control of Sponsor which corrupts or impairs the administration, security, fairness or proper operation of the Contest, Sponsor reserves the right in its sole discretion to suspend, modify or terminate the Contest. Should the Contest be terminated prior to the stated expiration date, Sponsor reserves the right to award prizes based on the entries received before the termination date.

8. Copyright. By entering the Contest, each contestant grants to Sponsor an exclusive, royalty-free and irrevocable right and license to publish, print, edit or otherwise use the contestant’s submitted entry, in whole or in part, for any purpose and in any manner or media (including, without limitation, the Internet) throughout the world in perpetuity, and to license others to do so, all without limitation or further compensation. Each contestant further agrees that if his/her entry is selected by Sponsor as the winning entry, he/she will sign any additional license or release that Sponsors may require, and will not publicly perform or display his or her submission without the express permission of Sponsors.

9. Construction. The invalidity or unenforceability of any provision of these rules shall not affect the validity or enforceability of any other provision. In the event that any such provision is determined to be invalid or otherwise unenforceable, these rules shall be construed in accordance with their terms as if the invalid or unenforceable provision was not contained therein.

10. Sponsor. The Hudson River Photography Contest is sponsored by Poughkeepsie Journal. The decisions of Sponsor and the Contest judges regarding the selection of winners and all other aspects of the Contest shall be final and binding in all respects. Sponsor will not be responsible for typographical, printing or other inadvertent errors in these Official Rules or in other materials relating to the Contest. For a list of winners available after October 31, 2009 or a copy of these Official Rules, visit www.hudsonhappenings.com/photocontest or send a self-addressed, stamped envelope to “Winners List/Official Rules” (as applicable), Poughkeepsie Journal Hudson River Photo Contest, PO Box 1231, Poughkeepsie, NY 12602. If you have any questions regarding this Contest, please contact Jean Harris at 845-437-4712.


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