Irrational Games Online Cosplay Contest
Official Rules
NO PURCHASE NECESSARY TO ENTER OR WIN. A PURCHASE DOES NOT IMPROVE YOUR CHANCES OF WINNING.
The Contest may only be entered in or from the 50 United States and the District of Columbia, the United Kingdom, and Canada (excluding Quebec) and entries originating from any other jurisdiction are not eligible for entry. This Contest is governed exclusively by the laws of the United States. You are not authorized to participate in the Contest if you are not located within the United States, the United Kingdom, or Canada (excluding Quebec).
1. Eligibility. Participation open only to legal residents of the fifty United States and the District of Columbia, the United Kingdom, and Canada (excluding Quebec), who are at least 17 years old (or who have reached the age of majority in their state territory of residence if it is greater than 17) as of date of entry. Void outside of these territories, and where prohibited, taxed or restricted by law. Employees, officers and directors of Irrational Games (“Sponsor”), and its parent company, subsidiaries, affiliates, partners, retailers, advertising and promotion agencies, manufacturers or distributors of Contest materials and their immediate families (parents, children, siblings, spouse) or members of the same household (whether related or not) of such employees/officers/directors are not eligible to enter. Only individuals can enter. Entries from teams, companies or groups are not permitted. Sponsor reserves the right to disqualify any entry, for whatever reason, including, but not limited to, a perceived or actual conflict of interest. All federal, state and local laws and regulations apply.
2. Start/End Dates. Entry period begins at 3:00:01 PM ET on March 13, 2014 and ends at 11:59:59 PM ET on March 19, 2014. Sponsor’s computer is the official time-keeping device for the Contest.
3. How to Enter. To enter the Contest, read the Official Rules and submit a photo showcasing cosplay from any of the BioShock games. To enter, users must log into their Facebook accounts and “Like” Irrational Game’s official Facebook page located at http://www.facebook.com/IrrationalGames. Once users “Like” the page, they will be greeted by a prompt allowing them to create a unique username (with alpha-numeric restrictions) and upload a photo that conforms to the Submission Guidelines and Content Restrictions below. The user must then follow the prompts provided by the Facebook site to complete their submission. All entry information and Photo shall be collectively referred to herein as the “Submissions” or each as a “Submission.” All Submissions must comply with the Guidelines and Restrictions (as defined below), as determined by Sponsor in its sole and absolute discretion. Sponsor reserves the right to cancel or modify this Contest in the event an insufficient number of entries are received that meet the minimum judging criteria.
By entering, each entrant warrants and represents the following with respect to their Submission: (a) entrant is the sole and exclusive owner of all aspects of the Submission, apart from any of Sponsor’s intellectual property, including copyrights, trademarks, designs, artwork, and characters (“Sponsor IP”), which may only be used pursuant to the limited license described more fully herein; (b) apart from any included Sponsor IP, the Submission is entrant’s own creation and is 100% original; (c) the Submission will not infringe on any rights of any third party, including but not limited to copyright, trademark, privacy, publicity and/or any other intellectual property right and will not include the name, photo, or likeness of any third parties; (d) the Submission complies with the Guidelines and Restrictions (defined below); and (e) the Submission has not been submitted previously in a promotion of any kind, won any kind of award and/or been exhibited or displayed publicly through any means.
Limit one (1) Submission per person. All entrants must have a valid Facebook account. No automated entry devices and/or programs permitted. All entries, including Submissions, become the sole and exclusive property of the Sponsor and receipt of entries will not be acknowledged or returned. Sponsor is not responsible for lost, late, illegible, stolen, incomplete, invalid, unintelligible, misdirected, technically corrupted or garbled entries, which will be disqualified, or for problems of any kind whether mechanical, human or electronic. Only fully completed submissions are eligible. Proof of submission will not be deemed to be proof of receipt by Sponsor.
4. Submission Guidelines and Content Restrictions: By entering the Contest, each entrant agrees that his or her Submission conforms to the Submission Guidelines and Content Restrictions as defined below (collectively, the “Guidelines and Restrictions”) and that Sponsor, in its sole discretion, may remove any Submission and disqualify an entrant from the Contest if it believes, in its sole discretion, that the entrant’s Submission fails to conform to the Guidelines and Restrictions.
Submission Guidelines:
- All Submissions must be submitted in one of the following image formats: .jpg, .gif, or .png.
- All Submissions must be 3MB or smaller.
- The Submission cannot have been submitted previously in a promotion of any kind, won any award or been exhibited or displayed publicly through any means.
Content Restrictions:
- The Submission must not contain material that violates or infringes another’s rights, including but not limited to copyright, trademark, privacy, publicity or any other intellectual property rights;
- The Submission must not disparage Sponsor, any other person or party;
- The Submission must not contain brand names or trademarks of any entity other than the Sponsor IP, which entrant has a limited license to use for the sole purpose of creating a Submission in this Contest;
- The Submission must not contain footage, images or artwork not created by entrant or owned by Sponsor;
- The Submission must not contain material that is inappropriate, indecent, obscene hateful, tortious, defamatory, slanderous or libelous;
- The Submission must not contain material that is unlawful, in violation of or contrary to the laws or regulations in any jurisdiction where Submission is created.
Entrants acknowledge that other entrants may have used ideas and/or concepts in their Submission that may have similarities to ideas or concepts included in entrant’s Submission, and entrants understand and agree that they shall not in any way be entitled to any compensation because of any such similarities. Sponsor’s decisions are final and binding in all matters relating to this Contest, including interpretation and application of these Official Rules.
5. Ownership: All Submissions will become the exclusive property of Sponsor, and none will be acknowledged or returned. Sponsor shall have the right to edit, adapt and publish or not publish any or all of the Submissions, and may use them in any media without attribution or compensation to the entrant, his/her successors or assigns, or any other entity. CREATING AND SUBMITTING A SUBMISSION IN THIS CONTEST CONSTITUTES ENTRANT’S IRREVOCABLE ASSIGNMENT, CONVEYANCE AND TRANSFERENCE TO SPONSOR OF ANY AND ALL RIGHT, TITLE AND INTEREST IN THE SUBMISSION OR ANY DERIVATIVE WORKS CREATED USING THE SUBMISSION INCLUDING, WITHOUT LIMITATION, ALL INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY RIGHTS, INCLUDING COPYRIGHTS. Sponsor grants eligible entrants a limited, revocable, non-sublicensable, license to use Sponsor’s artwork, name, trademarks and logos (collectively, “Sponsor’s Marks”) for the sole purpose of creating and submitting the Submission for review and assessment in this Contest. Entrants are not permitted to make any further use of Sponsor’s Marks for any purpose whatsoever. In addition, entrants recognize that all right, title, and interest in Sponsor’s Marks as well as all derivative works created using Sponsor’s Marks shall vest exclusively to the Sponsor, and entrant agrees that he/she has not and will not take any action that might harm or adversely affect such rights. No right, title, or interest in and to the Sponsor’s Marks except for the limited license granted to entrant in these Official Rules is transferred or created. Each entrant further acknowledges and agrees that Sponsor’s Marks are valid and enforceable, and that entrant shall do nothing to challenge the validity or enforceability of Sponsor’s Marks in any forum. Entrants agree that the use of Sponsor’s Marks is permitted only for the purpose of making a Submission for entry in this Contest, and that any use of Sponsor’s Marks (whether in the Submission or otherwise) beyond this scope infringes the rights of Sponsor and will result in irreparable harm to Sponsor.
6. Independently Developed Submissions. Each entrant understands and agrees that Sponsor’s use in matters independently developed of material similar to or identical with the Submission or containing features or elements similar to or identical with those contained in the Submission will not obligate Sponsor to negotiate with entrant, nor will it entitle entrant to any compensation of any kind. Each entrant agrees and acknowledges that nothing herein shall preclude Sponsor from using any material in or similar to the Submission without obligation to entrant, including, but not limited to, if Sponsor has or has determined that it has an independent legal right to use such other material, including without limitation, because such features or elements were not new or novel, or were not originated by entrant, or were or may hereafter be independently created by or submitted to Sponsor.
7. Finalist Round/Judging Panel. On or about March 20, 2014, Sponsor or its designated judges, determined by Sponsor in its sole and absolute discretion, shall review all Submissions. Sponsor will select one (1) winner. A second winner will be selected by Anna Ormeli, the original Elizabeth cosplayer, located in Russia. Sponsor or its designated judges, shall review the remaining Submissions to determine which shall be designated as a Finalist and entered into the final round of the Contest for a public vote which will determine the third and final winner. The judging panel will judge the Finalists Submissions based on the following equally-weighted judging criteria (“Judging Panel Criteria”): (a) accuracy; (b) attention to detail and (c) presentation. Subject to verification and compliance with these Official Rules, the highest scoring twenty (20) Submissions shall be designated as Finalists. In the event of a tie, all tied entries will be re-judged by an additional judge selected by Sponsor who will break the tie using the Judging Panel Criteria. By entering the Contest, entrants fully and unconditionally agree to be bound by these rules and the decisions of the judges, which will be final and binding in all matters relating to the Contest.
8. Public Voting Period. All Finalists will be judged by the public during the public voting period (“Public Voting Period”), which begins on March 21, 2014 at 3:00:01 PM EST and ends on March 23, 2014 at 11:59:59 pm EST. During the Public Voting Period, Submissions will be judged by the public, who will vote on which of the Finalist photos is the best overall submission. To vote for a Submission, voters must log into their official Facebook account, “Like” the Irrational Games Facebook page located at http://www.facebook.com/IrrationalGames and cast a vote as directed on the Irrational Games Facebook page. Voters may only vote for one Submission, and may only vote one time during the Public Voting Period. The Submission receiving the highest number of votes during the Public Voting Period will be designated as the potential winner, subject to verification, including ensuring compliance with these Official Rules and the Guidelines and Restrictions included herein, as determined by Sponsor in its sole and absolute discretion.
Limit one (1) vote per person/Facebook account throughout the Public Voting Period. Any attempt by any voter to submit more than the stated number of votes will void that voter’s votes. The use of robotic or automatic devices for voting is prohibited and Sponsor reserves the right to nullify any and all such votes and to disqualify from voting the responsible individual. Entrants are prohibited from obtaining votes by any fraudulent or inappropriate means, including offering prizes or other inducements to members of public, as determined by Sponsor, in its sole discretion and Sponsor reserves the right to nullify any and all such votes and to disqualify from Contest the responsible entrant. Sponsor is not responsible for lost, late, incomplete, invalid, unintelligible or misdirected votes, which will be void. Only valid votes received by Sponsor will count towards entrant’s Public Voting score.
9. Prizes. The Winners will receive one (1) Vigo Bottle from the Irrational Games Store. Winners may choose between the Devil’s Kiss bottle, the Undertow bottle, and the Possession bottle. *Approximate Retail Value (“ARV”) of Prize: US$350.00.
Total ARV of all prizes combined: US$1,050.00. Prize(s) is/are non-transferable. No substitutions or cash redemptions. In the case of unavailability of any prize, Sponsor reserves the right to substitute a prize of equal or greater value. All unspecified expenses are the responsibility of winner(s). ALL ENTRANTS ACKNOWLEDGE AND AGREE THAT SPONSOR SHALL HAVE NO OBLIGATION TO POST, DISPLAY, OR OTHERWISE USE ANY SUBMISSIONS, INCLUDING WITHOUT LIMITATION THE WINNING SUBMISSION(S). FOR SAKE OF CLARITY, ENTRANTS UNDERSTAND AND AGREE THAT EVEN IF ENTRANT IS A WINNING SUBMISSION SPONSOR IS UNDER NO OBLIGATION TO USE THE WINNING SUBMISSION FOR ANY PURPOSE WHATSOEVER. HOWEVER, SPONSOR WILL HAVE THE RIGHT, BUT NOT THE OBLIGATION, AS DETERMINED BY IT IN ITS SOLE AND ABSOLUTE DISCRETION, TO USE THE WINNING SUBMISSION. IF ANY SUBMISSION IS USED BY SPONSOR, INCLUDING THE WINNING SUBMISSIONS, ENTRANTS WILL NOT RECEIVE ANY COMMISSION ON ANY PRODUCTS OR MERCHANDISE WITH SUCH ENTRANT’S SUBMISSION (IF APPLICABLE).
10. Notification. Winners will be notified via Facebook or their submission email on or about March 24, 2014 and will be required to sign and return, where legal, an Affidavit of Eligibility, Liability/Publicity Release and/or rights transfer document within 10 days of prize notification. If any winner cannot be contacted within three (3) calendar days of first notification attempt, if any prize or prize notification is returned as undeliverable, if any winner rejects his/her prize or in the event of noncompliance with these Contest rules and requirements, such prize will be forfeited and may be awarded to the Submission with the next highest score. Upon prize forfeiture, no compensation will be given. Prizes will be mailed out by April 10, 2014 pending address verification.
11. Conditions. Sponsor shall not be liable or responsible in the event any entrant or winner’s Submission is not used for any reason. Submissions may be cut, edited, reformatted, rearranged, combined with other materials and/or otherwise modified, in Sponsor’s sole and absolute discretion. Any and all federal, state and local taxes are the sole responsibility of the winners. Participation in Contest and acceptance of prize constitutes winner’s permission for Sponsor to use his/her name, address (city and state and country), likeness, photograph, picture, portrait, voice, biographical information, Submission and/or any statements made by each winner regarding the Contest or Sponsor for advertising and promotional purposes without notice or additional compensation, except where prohibited by law. By participating, entrants and winners agree to release and hold harmless Sponsor, its partners and promotion and advertising agencies and each of their respective parent companies, subsidiaries, affiliates, partners, representatives, agents, successors, assigns, employees, officers and directors (collectively, the “Released Entities”), from any and all liability, for loss, harm, damage, injury, cost or expense whatsoever including without limitation, property damage, personal injury and/or death which may occur in connection with, preparation for, travel to, or participation in Contest, or possession, acceptance and/or use or misuse of prize or participation in any Contest-related activity and for any claims based on publicity rights, defamation, invasion of privacy, copyright infringement, trademark infringement or any other intellectual property-related cause of action. Entrants who do not comply with these Official Rules or attempt to interfere with this Contest in any way shall be disqualified. Sponsor is not responsible if Contest cannot take place or if any prize cannot be awarded due to travel cancellations, delays or interruptions due to acts of God, acts of war, natural disasters, weather or acts of terrorism.
12. Additional Terms. Any attempted form of entry other than as set forth in Section 3 above is prohibited; no automatic, programmed; robotic or similar means of entry are permitted. The Released Entities are not responsible for technical, hardware, software, telephone or other communications malfunctions, errors or failures of any kind, lost or unavailable network connections, web site, Internet, or ISP availability, unauthorized human intervention, traffic congestion, incomplete or inaccurate capture of entry information (regardless of cause) or failed, incomplete, garbled, jumbled or delayed computer transmissions which may limit one’s ability to enter the Contest, including any injury or damage to participant’s or any other person’s computer relating to or resulting from participating in this Contest or downloading any materials in this Contest. Sponsor reserves the right, in its sole discretion, to cancel, terminate, modify, extend or suspend this Contest should (in its sole discretion) virus, bugs, non-authorized human intervention, fraud or other causes beyond its control corrupt or affect the administration, security, fairness or proper conduct of the Contest. In such case, Sponsor may select the winners from all eligible entries received prior to and/or after (if appropriate) the action taken by Sponsor. Sponsor reserves the right, at its sole discretion, to disqualify any individual it finds, in its sole discretion, to be tampering with the entry process or the operation of the Contest or web site. Sponsor may prohibit an entrant from participating in the Contest or winning a prize if, in its sole discretion, it determines that said entrant is attempting to undermine the legitimate operation of the Contest by cheating, hacking, deception, or other unfair playing practices (including the use of automated quick entry programs) or intending to annoy, abuse, threaten or harass any other entrants or Sponsor representatives.
CAUTION: ANY ATTEMPT BY AN ENTRANT TO DELIBERATELY DAMAGE ANY WEB SITE OR UNDERMINE THE LEGITIMATE OPERATION OF THE CONTEST MAY BE A VIOLATION OF CRIMINAL AND CIVIL LAWS AND SHOULD SUCH AN ATTEMPT BE MADE, THE SPONSOR RESERVES THE RIGHT TO SEEK DAMAGES FROM ANY SUCH PERSON TO THE FULLEST EXTENT PERMITTED BY LAW.
13. Limitation of Liability; Disclaimer of Warranties. IN NO EVENT WILL THE RELEASED ENTITIES BE RESPONSIBLE OR LIABLE FOR ANY DAMAGES OR LOSSES OF ANY KIND, INCLUDING DIRECT, INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, CONSEQUENTIAL OR PUNITIVE DAMAGES ARISING OUT OF ENTRANT’S ACCESS TO AND USE OF THE SERVICE AND/OR THE CONTEST, DOWNLOADING FROM AND/OR PRINTING MATERIAL DOWNLOADED FROM ANY WEBSITES ASSOCIATED WITH THE CONTEST. IN NO EVENT SHALL THE RELEASED ENTITIES’ TOTAL LIABILITY TO ENTRANT FOR ALL DAMAGES, LOSSES, OR CAUSES OF ACTION EXCEED $10. WITHOUT LIMITING THE FOREGOING, THIS CONTEST AND ALL PRIZES ARE PROVIDED “AS IS” WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EITHER EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO, THE IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE OR NON-INFRINGEMENT. SOME JURISDICTIONS MAY NOT ALLOW THE LIMITATIONS OR EXCLUSION OF LIABILITY FOR INCIDENTAL OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES OR EXCLUSION OF IMPLIED WARRANTIES SO SOME OF THE ABOVE LIMITATIONS OR EXCLUSIONS MAY NOT APPLY TO ENTRANT. CHECK ENTRANT’S LOCAL LAWS FOR ANY RESTRICTIONS OR LIMITATIONS REGARDING THESE LIMITATIONS OR EXCLUSIONS.
14. Disputes; Governing Law. The parties waive all rights to trial in any action or proceeding instituted in connection with these Official Rules, including, without limitation, the Contest. Any controversy or claim arising out of or relating to these Official Rules and/or the Contest shall be settled by binding arbitration in accordance with the commercial arbitration rules of the American Arbitration Association. Any such controversy or claim shall be arbitrated on an individual basis, and shall not be consolidated in any arbitration with any claim or controversy of any other party. The arbitration shall be conducted in the State of New York, City of New York.
THESE OFFICIAL RULES AND THE INTERPRETATION OF ITS TERMS SHALL BE GOVERNED BY AND CONSTRUED IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE LAWS OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK WITHOUT REGARD TO ITS CONFLICTS OF LAWS RULES. For any matters which are not subject to arbitration as set forth in these Official Rules and/or in connection with the entering of any judgment on an arbitration award in connection with these Official Rules and/or the Contest, the parties irrevocably submit and consent to the exclusive jurisdiction and venue of the state and federal courts located in or closest to the County of New York in the State of New York. The parties agree not to raise the defense of forum non conveniens.
15. Use of Data. Sponsor will be collecting personal data about entrants online, in accordance with its privacy policy. Please review the Sponsor’s privacy policy at www.take2games.com/privacy. By participating in the Contest, entrants hereby agree to Sponsor’s collection and usage of their personal information and acknowledge that they have read and accepted Sponsor’s privacy policy.
16. List of Winners. To obtain a list of winners, send a self-addressed, stamped envelope by April 15, 2014 to: Winner’s List Request, Irrational Games, 1515 Hancock Street, Quincy MA 02169.
17. Sponsor. Irrational Games, a wholly owned subsidiary of the United States company Take-Two Interactive Software, Inc. The Sponsor’s address is Irrational Games, 1515 Hancock Street, Quincy MA 02169, USA.