Photo Contest Rules - Fall in Love, Burlington

2024 Fall in Love, Burlington: Fall Photo Contest

Contest Sponsors

Fall in Love, Burlington: Fall Photo Contest is sponsored by the City of Burlington, acting by and through the Business and Workforce Development Office (the “Contest Sponsors”).

Description of Contest Objectives

The contest seeks to highlight the beauty of Burlington in the fall season. We encourage participants to use their creativity to showcase the essence of BTV. Examples could include but are not limited to, sunsets at the waterfront, foliage on the bike path, family time in public spaces, picnicking at the beach, etc. (See the “Eligibility” section below to find out who is eligible to be a contestant.)

Platform(s)

Events from this contest may be announced and promoted on various social media platforms including Instagram, but contest entry and administration will take place through entry form hosted on a domain as published by the Sponsor. Contest winners may also be announced on the official websites of the City, as well as Instagram; however, Instagram is not a partner or sponsor of the contest. Contestants are reminded that by participating in the contest and uploading content to Instagram they are bound by Instagram’s Terms of Service and any agreement with Instagram contained therein.

How to Enter

a. Photos must be submitted in digital format through the “Your photo” field on the form. Individual contestants may submit no more than one photograph. Submissions must include legal first and last name and a valid electronic mail address where contests may be contacted.

b. Each photograph must be accompanied by a valid caption describing the photograph.

c. Once a photograph is submitted, it is considered a final submission and may not be modified, edited, or replaced. A submission must be an original photograph, digital or analog, taken by the contestant.

d. Participation in this contest is deemed as acceptance of these Official Contest Rules.

e. Entries may be submitted between September, 26, 2024 and October 10, 2024 at 11:59PM. No entries submitted outside of this timeframe will be considered valid.

f. The winners will be announced on October 28, 2024 on the Love Burlington Instagram account. The winners will be notified by e-mail.

Content Requirements

a. Submissions must be original content created by the contestant and must not contain any elements that are protected by someone else’s copyright or otherwise subject to third party intellectual property or proprietary rights, including privacy and publicity rights. Contest Sponsors recognize no allowance for “fair use” of copyrighted material, nor do Contest Sponsors recognize allowance for use of licensed materials created or owned by a third party. Photographs that have won other contests are not eligible.

b. Submissions must not contain obscenity, explicit sexual material, nudity, profanity, graphic violence, calls or incitement to violence, commercial solicitation or commercial promotion. Submissions must conform to local law and must not contain content or images that could be considered abusive, inflammatory, denigrating, or disrespectful to any of the Contest Sponsors, or to any groups, individuals or institutions. Submissions must adhere both in appearance and in  fact to the norms of civil discourse. In other words, the content of all submissions must be suitable for a global, public audience.

c. Contest Sponsors reserve the right to disqualify, at their sole and absolute discretion, any submission that does not adhere to these criteria and to the intent and substance of these Official Contest Rules.

d. In the event of any question or difference of views regarding compliance with, interpretation, or application of these content requirements or other provisions of these Official Contest Rules, Contest Sponsors reserve the exclusive right to resolve such questions or differences of views at their sole discretion.

e. By submitting a photograph to the contest, the contestant affirms that the contestant has obtained written consent from all individuals whose image or likeness appears in the photograph and that they have obtained the necessary rights, licenses, consents, and permissions to use all material such as images, text and other content in the submission. The contestant further affirms that they are prepared to provide reliable documentation of any and all such consents, licenses, etc., upon request. 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.

Eligibility

a. Contestants must be at least 18 years old on the date of entry into the contest. Contestants must be lawful residents of the U.S.

b. The individual submitting the entry will be considered the contestant and will be the only individual eligible to compete for the prizes. Organizations are not eligible to compete for the prizes, either as an entity, or through representation by an individual. In order to be eligible for the prizes, the contestant must provide complete and accurate information.

c. Photographs that have won other major photo contests, either online or in print, as determined by the Contest Sponsors, are not eligible for submission. We define winning as having won a grand prize or 1st, 2nd, or 3rd place.

d. The following individuals are not eligible to participate in the contest: Employees, contractors, interns, directors, and officers of the Contest Sponsors or of the businesses supplying prices; 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 household of each such individual.

e. Once a submission has been accepted for entry into the contest, the contestant’s name may be publicly identified at the sole discretion of the Contest Sponsors.

Selection of Winners

a. All photos are subject to pre-screening by Contest Sponsors to ensure compliance with these Official Contest Rules. Any photos out of compliance will not be posted. Contest Sponsors reserve the right at their sole and absolute discretion to verify in the final analysis whether potential winning photo submission has fully complied with these Official Contest Rules before posting to the contest site, awarding prizes, recognizing a winner, etc.

b. Voting: Voting will begin on October 11, 2024, at 12:00 p.m. and end on October 25, 2024, at 12:00 p.m. The public can vote for their favorite photo using the photo contest link provided (https://bit.ly/loveburlingtonphotocontest) and by entering their name and email in the applicable filed and selecting the photo they’d like to vote for.

c. Determination of Winners. The photo with the most votes wins.

d. Winner(s) will be contacted via e-mail at the e-mail address they provided for registration. The inability of Contest Sponsors to contact a potential winner may result in disqualification and/or selection of an alternate winner from among all remaining eligible submissions.

Prize:

a. The winner will receive all of the following items:

  • A one-night stay at Hotel Vermont
  • $50 gift card from August First
  • $35 gift card from BKK in the Alley
  • $25 gift card from Haymaker Buns
  • VT Cider Walnut Caramels from Nu Chocolat
  • Candle and pair of socks from Kish
  • Vermont beanie from Common Deer
  • Pair of Vermont Distillers glasses and a Smugglers’ Notch Distillery maple syrup

b. Winning photographs will be displayed on the Love Burlington Instagram account and on the City of Burlington official websites at the Contest Sponsor’s sole discretion. Contest sponsors reserve the right to display photos for promotional or other purposes in their sole discretion.

c. The winner has to confirm the acceptance of the prize in an email reply within five calendar days. If the acceptance is not confirmed by the required date, the Contest Sponsors reserve the right to select an alternate winner. Each winner must be capable of picking up the prize in Burlington, VT, at a location to be designated by the Contest Sponsors. Contest Sponsors are not responsible for any problems related to the delivery of any prize, including, but not limited to, theft, delay, damage, or destruction/accidental loss.

d. 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.

Liability and Rights

a. Contest Sponsors do not endorse any submissions or messages expressed therein, and Contest Sponsors expressly disclaim any and all liability in connection with the submitted photos including disputes between collaborators related to a submission.

b. The 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.

c. Contestants retain sole ownership of their original work. The submission remains the intellectual property of the contestant, and the Contest Sponsors make no claim of copyright as to the work of any individual who enters the contest. Contestant specifically agrees to give the Contest Sponsors permission to use all content submitted for purposes of judging the contest. Finalists and/or winners will be required to grant Contest Sponsors, with proper attribution through whatever means they deem appropriate, a worldwide, non-exclusive, royalty-free, sublicensable and transferable license to use, reproduce, distribute, prepare derivative works of, and/or display the submission in any media formats and through any media channels in perpetuity in connection with the activities and operations of the contest.

d. Contestant assumes sole responsibility for the contest submission and the material contained in it, and for any consequences of submitting or posting it.

e. 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 with these Official Contest Rules. 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.

f. If a prize or any portion thereof is unavailable, Contest Sponsors, at their sole discretion, reserve the right to substitute the prize with another prize of equal or greater value and/or specification.

g. Contest Sponsors reserve the right, at any time and at their sole discretion, to disqualify and/or deem ineligible any individual who they reasonably believe (i) has violated the Official Contest Rules; (ii) has violated the terms of use of platform, or (iii) is acting in a bad faith, or in an unsportsmanlike or disruptive manner, or with intent to annoy, abuse, threaten or harass any other person.

h. Contest Sponsors reserve the right to modify, suspend, terminate or cancel the contest at their discretion for any reason.

i. Contestant agrees to indemnify and hold harmless Contest Sponsors, their parent, subsidiary and affiliated companies, officers, directors, employees, interns, and agents, from and against any and all claims, damages, obligations, losses, liabilities, costs or debts, and expenses (including but not limited to attorney's fees) arising from (i) violation of these Official Contest Rules; (ii) 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 (iii) any claim that a contest submission caused any harm, including financial, to any third party. These indemnification and hold harmless obligations will survive indefinitely beyond the conclusion of the contest.

j. The conduct, judging, and awarding of prizes will be carried out in full compliance with applicable Vermont and U.S. law.

k. 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 malfunctions arising in connection with the operation of the contest, including: 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 in 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.

l. Use of contest site is at user’s own risk. Contest Sponsors are not responsible for any personal injury, property damage, or losses of any kind which may be sustained to computer equipment resulting from participation in the contest, use of the contest site or the downloading of information from the contest site. By participating in the contest, the contestant releases Contest Sponsors from any and all claims arising from or relating to such contestant’s participation in the contest, whether directly or indirectly.

m. Contest Sponsors are not liable in the event that any portion of the contest is cancelled or delayed due to weather, fire, strike, acts of war or terrorism, or any other reason.

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