Focal Press Photography Contest Official Rules

NO PURCHASE NECESSARY to enter or win; purchase does not increase chances of winning.

Eligibility:  The Focal Press Photography Contest (“Contest”) is a skill-based contest open to professional and amateur photographers and photography students who are at least eighteen (18) years of age at the time of entry.  Employees of Elsevier Inc. (“Sponsor”), its parent, subsidiary and affiliated companies, and their advertising and promotional agencies and participating vendors, the Contest judges, and the immediate families and those living in the same household of the foregoing, are not eligible to enter.  Entrants may be subject to rules imposed by their employer/institution relative to their participation in trade promotions and should check with their employer/institution for any relevant policies. All entrants are responsible for ensuring their entry is in compliance with the legal requirements of their country.  Sponsor reserves the right to disqualify entries that violate any applicable law, regulation or standard. VOID WHERE PROHIBITED.

Entry Period:  The Contest runs on a monthly basis and begins at 12:01 AM Eastern Time (“ET”) on the first day of the month and ends at 11:59 PM ET on the last day of each month (“Entry Period”).

How To Enter:  (i) Visit the Contest webpage at http://www.focalpress.com/contest.aspx?category=photography; (ii) register or log in as a member of FocalPress.com; (iii) complete the online entry form by (a) providing your full name and email address, (b) uploading up to two (2) digital photographs in separate jpeg files that are less than 1 MB each and saved for web resolution that meet the standards of the given month’s photography topic indicated  on the Contest webpage, and (c) submitting an optional description of the uploaded photographs; and (iv) submit the completed entry form by clicking the “Submit” button. EACH CONTESTANT MAY ENTER UP TO TWO PHOTOGRAPHS PER MONTH. EACH PHOTOGRAPH MUST BE ENTERED SEPARATELY. <b>LIMIT ONE WINNING ENTRY PER ENTRANT PER MONTH.</b> Entries will be deemed to have been submitted by the authorized account holder of the e-mail address submitted at the time of the entry. "Authorized account holder" is defined as the natural person who is assigned to an e-mail address by an Internet access provider, online service provider or organization (e.g., business, educational institution, etc.) that is responsible for assigning e-mail addresses for the domain associated with the submitted e-mail address.  Only entries submitted electronically through the Contest webpage in accordance with these Official Rules will be eligible for consideration.  All entries become the exclusive property of Sponsor and will not be acknowledged or returned.

Selection of Winner:  There will be three (3) winners each month selected based on visual impact from all eligible entries. The First and Second place winners will be determined by a “guest judge”; judges are indicated on the Contest webpage at http://www.focalpress.com/photographycontest. Third place winners will be determined by popular vote, taking the total number of votes an entered photograph receives and multiplying it by the average star rating determined by the Contest website’s online voting system. The photograph with the highest total number will be the third place winner.

First Place Winners will receive one (1) Focal Press title of their choice chosen from the 2008-2010 (if available) Focal Press e-catalog, with the exception of the Focal Encyclopedia of Photography (all editions).  Second and Third Place Winners will receive the Focal title indicated on the contest page for that month.

There will also be two (2) Grand Prize Winners for the year 2010 selected by a “guest judge” based on visual impact from the entries of the three monthly winners for January, February, March and April, May, June 2010 (grand prize one) and July, August, September, October, November and December 2010 (grand prize two).

All decisions made by judges are final.

Judges: A list of monthly guest judges and grand prize judges can be found at the contest webpage at http://www.focalpress.com/photographycontest. Judges are subject to change without notice due to availability. If at all possible, judges will be Focal authors.

Prize:  The First Place Prize is one (1) Focal Press Photography books with an approximate retail value of US $55; the Second and Third place Prizes are one Focal Press book, with an approximate retail value of US $55. The specific prizes change each month and are specified each month on the Contest webpage at http://www.focalpress.com/photographycontest. The First Grand Prize is Michael Freeman’s Digital Photography Reference System with an approximate retail value of $100 USD and a copy of The Photographer’s Eye, Michael Freeman’s Perfect Exposure, The Art of Printing on Your Epson Printer, and The Photographer’s Eye Field Guide all by Michael Freeman with an approximate retail value of $140 USD. The Second Grand Prize is an Epson® Artisan 800 All-in-One digital photo printer with an approximate retail value of US$200, with Epson® multi-color ink cartridges with an approximate retail value of US$30 and one package of Epson® premium photo paper glossy 8”x10” with an approximate retail value of US$25. If necessary due to unavailability, a prize of equal or greater value will be awarded at the discretion of the Sponsor. All taxes (including without limitation federal, state, and local sales, use and/or income taxes) associated with the prizes are the sole and exclusive responsibility of the respective winners.

Notice to Winner:  The potential winners will be notified by e-mail within fourteen (14) days after the close of the Contest Entry Period and may be asked to execute and return to Sponsor an affidavit of eligibility and release within fourteen (14) days of attempted notification.  Non-compliance within that time may result in disqualification and the selection of an alternate winner.  Return of any prize/prize notification as undeliverable will result in disqualification and an alternate winner will be selected based upon the judging criteria.

Limitations of Liability/Reserved Rights. Neither Sponsor, its parent, subsidiary or affiliated companies, nor its advertising or promotional agencies shall have any obligation, liability or responsibility with regard to (i) entries that contain incorrect or inaccurate information or do not comply with these Official Rules, (ii) entries, prize claims or notifications that are lost, late, incomplete, illegible, unintelligible, damaged or otherwise not received by the intended recipient, in whole or in part, due to computer, technical or other error of any kind, (iii) telephone, electronic, hardware, software, network, Internet or computer malfunctions, failures or difficulties, (iv) any condition caused by events beyond the control of Sponsor that may cause the Contest to be disrupted or delayed, or (v) any damages or losses of any kind caused by any prize or resulting from participation in the Contest, accessing, uploading or downloading data in connection with the Contest, or acceptance, possession or use of any prize.  Sponsor, in its sole discretion, reserves the right to disqualify any entrant tampering with the entry process or the operation of the Contest website or otherwise violating these Official Rules.  Sponsor, in its sole discretion, further reserves the right to cancel, terminate, suspend or modify the Contest if the Contest cannot be completed as planned because of infection by computer virus, bugs, tampering, unauthorized intervention or technical failures of any sort.

Release:  BY ENTERING THE CONTEST, THE ENTRANT AGREES TO RELEASE AND HOLD HARMLESS SPONSOR AND ITS PARENT, SUBSIDIARY, AND AFFILIATED COMPANIES, AND EACH OF THEIR DIRECTORS, OFFICERS, EMPLOYEES, REPRESENTATIVES, VENDORS, AND AGENCIES, FROM ANY AND ALL LIABILITY WHATSOEVER, AND WAIVE ANY AND ALL CAUSES OF ACTION, RELATED TO ANY CLAIMS, COSTS, INJURIES, LOSSES, LIABILITIES, OR DAMAGES OF ANY KIND (INCLUDING, WITHOUT LIMITATION, PERSONAL INJURY, DEATH, DAMAGE TO OR DESTRUCTION OF PROPERTY, RIGHTS OF PUBLICITY OR PRIVACY, DEFAMATION OR PORTRAYAL IN A FALSE LIGHT, WHETHER INTENTIONAL OR UNINTENTIONAL) ARISING OUT OF OR IN CONNECTION WITH THE CONTEST OR THE ACCEPTANCE, POSSESSION, OR USE OF ANY PRIZE, WHETHER UNDER A THEORY OF CONTRACT, WARRANTY, TORT (INCLUDING NEGLIGENCE, WHETHER ACTIVE, PASSIVE, OR IMPUTED), STRICT LIABILITY, PRODUCT LIABILITY, CONTRIBUTION, OR ANY OTHER THEORY, TO THE EXTENT PERMITTED BY LAW.

Consent to Marketing:  Submission of entry constitutes consent for Sponsor to use entrant’s e-mail address and other submitted contact information for purposes of marketing and promotion of Sponsor’s products and services to entrant. 

Right to Use Entries.  By entering the Contest, entrants grant Sponsor a non-exclusive, irrevocable, royalty-free, perpetual, worldwide right and license to reproduce, publish, display and otherwise use their submitted image(s), credited with entrant’s full name and city and state/province/country of residence, online and in print or any other media for purposes of editorials, exhibition, advertising, publicity and promotion of the Contest and Sponsor’s publications and products, without additional compensation or permission, unless prohibited by law.

Original Work of Art:  Entrant represents and warrants that entrant owns the full rights to the submitted image(s) and has obtained any and all necessary consents, permissions, approvals and licenses to create and submit the image(s) and comply with all of these Official Rules, and that the submitted image(s) is the entrant’s sole original work, has not been previously published, released or distributed, was created using licensed software, and does not infringe any third-party rights or violate any laws or regulations.  Entries that contain any profane or obscene text or images will be disqualified at the sole discretion of Sponsor.

 Rules.  By entering the Contest, entrant agrees to abide by the terms and conditions of these Official Rules, which are final on all matters pertaining to the Contest, agrees to be bound by the decisions of the judges, and warrants that he/she is eligible to participate in the Contest.  The Contest is subject to all applicable federal, state and local laws and regulations.

Winners List:  For the name of the winners and the winning entries, visit http://www.focalpress.com/photographycontest by March 1, 2010.

Sponsor:  Elsevier Inc., 30 Corporate Drive, 4th Floor, Burlington, MA 01803