Movie TV Tech Geeks & eBay ‘Be the Blogger’ Rules and Conditions

EBAY BE THE BLOGGER CONTEST OFFICIAL RULES

  NO PURCHASE NECESSARY TO ENTER OR WIN.

OPEN TO LEGAL RESIDENTS OF THE FIFTY (50) UNITED STATES AND THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA WHO ARE 18 YEARS OF AGE AND OLDER AND WHO ARE PHYSICALLY LOCATED AND RESIDE IN THE UNITED STATES OR DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA AND WHO ARE REGISTERED MEMBERS OF WWW.EBAY.COM. 

VOID IN PUERTO RICO AND WHERE PROHIBITED

1. ELIGIBILITY:  eBay Be the Blogger Contest (the “Contest”)  is open to legal residents of the fifty (50) United States and the District of Columbia, who are 18 years of age and older and who are physically located and reside in the United States or District of Columbia, who are registered members of www.ebay.com at time of entry (“Eligible Participant”).  Void in Puerto Rico and where prohibited. Employees, directors and officers, and their immediate families (spouse, parents, children, siblings, and their respective spouses), and their respective household members, of eBay Inc. (“eBay”) and its affiliates, subsidiaries, and divisions (“eBay Entities”) (eBay and eBay Entities collectively, “Sponsor”), Sponsor’s advertising and promotion agencies, and Tenthwave Digital LLC and all others associated with the design, execution, production, development, and promotion of this Contest or are connected to this Contest in any way are not eligible to enter.  Contest is subject to all applicable federal, state, and local laws.  US law governs this Contest.

2. CONTEST TIMING:   The Contest begins at 12:00:00 AM Pacific Time (PT) on April 21, 2016 and ends 11:59:59 PM PT on July 14, 2016 (the “Contest Period”).

3. CONTEST DESCRIPTION:  The Contest invites Eligible Participants to create an eBay Guide for a specific “theme” and submit it for entry in the eBay Be the Blogger Contest during the Contest Period.  There will be four (4) different themes that will be featured during the Contest Period and the “theme” will change every three (3) weeks (each, an “Entry Period”). Eligible Participants may submit one (1) entry for each Entry Period.  The Contest will be promoted by Sponsor and by four (4) eBay Influencers, and each of the four (4) eBay Influencers will judge the entries submitted by their respective followers (those entrants who indicate that the eBay Influencer is their “favorite”) to determine one (1) winner for each Entry Period from among each Influencer’s respective followers.  In the event an Eligible Participant is not a follower of one of the four (4) participating eBay Influencers, his/her entry will be judged by a panel of judges supervised by the Sponsor who will determine one (1) winner for each Entry Period from among all entries received that do not indicate a favorite eBay Influencer.  A total of twenty (20) prizes will be awarded at the end of the Contest Period.

4. HOW TO ENTER:  Eligible Participants who wish to enter the eBay Be the Blogger Contest must create an eBay Guide that relates to the themes featured during the Contest Period. Four (4) different themes will be featured over the course of 3-week Entry Periods:

Theme 1:   “Express Your Passion(s)”. Everyone is passionate about something.  Channel your inner blogger and share your expertise with eBay!

Entry Period:  4/21/16 – 5/11/16

Theme 2:   “Getting Summer-Ready”.   Summer means something different to everyone.  Be inspired by your favorite eBay blogger and tell us what this season means to you!

Entry Period:  5/12/16 – 6/1/16

Theme 3:   “Inspire Us”.  You’ve followed your favorite eBay blogger for months.  Now it’s your turn.  Find inspiration from one of their guides and make it your own!

Entry Period:  6/2/16 – 6/22/16

Theme 4:   “Half-way to Holiday”.  The holidays will be here before you know it!  Get a jump-start and create your ultimate gift guide.

Entry Period:  6/23/16 – 7/14/16

eBay Guide requirements for this Contest are as follows:  (a) Must be a minimum of four hundred (400) words relating to the particular theme featured for that Entry Period; (b) Must contain five (5) images you own or pull directly from eBay.com; and (c) Must include five (5) internal links to eBay Search Results pages.  To learn more on how to create an eBay Guide, go to ebay.com/gds.

Once an Eligible Participant has completed his/her eBay Guide, he/she must click on the banner or link that appears on a participating eBay Influencer’s blog or go to http://ebay.promotionexpert.com/betheblogger/. To enter the Contest, Eligible Participants must do all of the following:  (1) Complete and submit the Contest entry form by indicating which, if any, eBay Influencer is their favorite and by including the link to their eBay Guide.  Eligible Participants must acknowledge that they have read and agree to the Official Rules by checking the box that appears on the entry form. Eligible Participant’s Entry must be in the English language.  Entry must be received by dates stated in the Entry Chart below in Rule #6 in order to be eligible for an Entry Period.  The Website’s database clock will be the official timekeeper for the Contest.  There is a limit of one Entry per person per Entry Period.  Each Entry received must be in compliance with the theme featured for that Entry Period.  Subsequent entries submitted by a person per Entry Period are void.

The Entry must be in keeping with the Sponsor’s image, and may not be offensive, nor can it defame, or invade upon the publicity rights or privacy of any person or otherwise infringe upon any person or entity’s intellectual property, personal or proprietary rights, as determined by Sponsor and the Contest judges in their sole discretion. Each Contest entrant must either (i) be the sole and exclusive owner of all rights (including, without limitation, all intellectual property rights) in and to all content and elements incorporated into or used in the Entry; or (ii) have the express written permission to use such content and elements from the owner(s) of the rights to such content and elements.  Any entrant whose Entry includes likenesses of third parties or contains content or elements not owned by the entrant (such as, but not limited to, use of songs, proprietary names, trademarks, or logos) must be able to provide written legal releases (in a form that is satisfactory to Sponsor and the judges) that permit the entrant to use and exploit such content and elements in the manner used and exploited and that permit Sponsor’s right to use and exploit the content and materials in accordance with these Official Rules (“IP Releases”) before eligible to be declared a Finalist.

In the event the likeness of a minor is included in an entrant’s Entry, entrant must provide a legal release from the parent/legal guardian of the minor depicted in the Entry.

SPONSOR RESERVES THE RIGHT, AT ITS SOLE DISCRETION, TO REMOVE ANY ENTRY THAT IS ACCESSIBLE FROM THE PROMOTIONAL WEBSITE THAT THE SPONSOR FEELS IS INAPPROPRIATE, OBJECTIONABLE AND/OR INCONSISTENT WITH THE POSITIVE IMAGE AND/OR GOOD WILL IT WISHES TO PROMOTE IN THIS CONTEST. IF ENTRY IS REMOVED FROM THE WEBSITE BY SPONSOR, ENTRY IS AUTOMATICALLY DISQUALIFIED.

ALL ELIGIBLE PARTICIPANTS ACKNOWLEDGE AND AGREE THAT ALL ENTRY MATERIALS SUBMITTED IN CONNECTION WITH THIS CONTEST ARE SUBMITTED ON A NON-CONFIDENTIAL AND NON-PROPRIETARY BASIS AND MAY BE USED BY SPONSOR, ITS AGENTS AND SUBSIDIARIES, FOR ADVERTISING AND PROMOTIONAL PURPOSES. 

Incomplete Entries or Entries not complying with these Official Rules are subject to disqualification.  Entries that have been generated by a script, macro, bot or any other automated means will be deemed void.  Sponsor is not responsible for late, lost, incomplete, illegible, damaged, or misdirected Entries.  Sponsor’s decisions are final on all matters relating to this Contest. If a dispute results as to the identity of an entrant, it will be determined that the entry was submitted by the authorized account holder of the eBay User ID from which the entry is made.  For these purposes, the authorized account holder is the natural person assigned to an eBay User ID by eBay Inc.

For greater certainty, if it is discovered that an Eligible Participant (or any person or entity purporting to be an Eligible Participant) has attempted to: (i) obtain more than the stated number of entries allowed per person during the Contest Period; and/or (ii) use (or attempt to use) multiple names, identities and/or more than one (1) email address to enter the Contest; then (in the sole and absolute discretion of the Sponsor) he/she may be disqualified from the Contest.  Any Entry you submit will be rejected if (in the sole and absolute discretion of the Sponsor), it is not completed and submitted during the Contest Period.  Use (or attempted use) of multiple names, identities, email addresses and/or any automated system to enter or otherwise disrupt this Contest is prohibited and is grounds for disqualification by the Sponsor. All Entries are subject to verification at any time.  The Sponsor reserves the right, in its sole and absolute discretion, to require proof of identity and/or eligibility (in a form acceptable to the Sponsor – including, without limitation, government issued photo identification) to participate in this Contest.  Failure to provide such proof to the satisfaction of the Sponsor in a timely manner may result in disqualification.

5. DETERMINATION OF WINNERS:  All eligible entries received for each Entry Period will be judged based on the following criteria: (i) Originality and Creativity – 25%; (ii) Clarity of Expression – 25%; (iii) Appropriateness to Contest Theme featured in the Entry Period – 50%. Each of the four (4) eBay Influencers will judge entries submitted by their respective followers and a panel of judges supervised by the Sponsor will judge entries that do not indicate a favorite eBay Influencer.  The entrant with the top-scoring entry in each Entry Period from among each Influencer’s respective followers and the entrant with the top-scoring entry in each Entry Period from among all entries received that do not indicate a favorite eBay Influencer will be declared potential winners.  Up to a maximum of twenty (20) as determined by Sponsor, top-scoring entries will be declared potential winners.  Becoming a confirmed winner is subject to validation and verification of eligibility and compliance with all terms and conditions set forth in these Official Rules.  In the event of a tie, the Entries involved in the tie will be reviewed by an additional judge who will serve as a tiebreaker and who will evaluate tied Entries according to the criteria listed above.  Decision of judges is final and binding on all matters relating to this Contest.  Winners will be determined on or about date stated in the Entry Chart below.  A person may only be deemed a winner in one (1) Entry Period.  Judges’ decisions are final and binding on all matters relating to this Contest.
6. WINNER NOTIFICATION:  Potential winners will be notified on or about dates stated in the Entry Chart below by U.S. mail and/or overnight mail and/or email.

ENTRY CHART:

Potential winners may be required to provide copies of Intellectual Property (IP) Releases (if applicable) and will be required to sign an affidavit of eligibility and liability release and, where legal, a publicity release and a federal and state tax release and return same, properly executed, within 48 hours via fax and within five (5) days of issuance of notification via regular U.S. Mail. Failure to return any or all documents fully-executed within the specified time period, or if any notification is returned as undeliverable, will result in disqualification and a runner-up may be selected.  If an entrant changes his/her telephone number, email address and/or street address after he/she enters the Contest, it is his/her sole responsibility to notify the Sponsor by postal mailing or email notice to Sponsor’s address (listed below) to be received by the end of the Entry Period.

7. PRIZES:  A total of twenty (20) Prizes will be awarded – one (1) prize awarded per Entry Period per each of the four (4) eBay Influencers and Sponsor’s judges:  $1,000 to be awarded in the form of a check.  Approximate Retail Value (ARV:  $1,000/each.  Total ARV of all prizes:  $20,000.

All taxes and any other costs not specifically stated within these Official Rules are the sole responsibility of the winners.  Prizes may not be transferred, substituted or redeemed for cash, except at the Sponsor’s sole discretion.  Sponsor reserves the right to substitute a prize of equal or greater value if advertised prize is unavailable at the time the prize is awarded.  All claimed prizes will be awarded. If winner is 18 years of age but deemed a minor in his/her state or place of residence, prize will be awarded in the name of a parent or legal guardian. Allow 6-8 weeks for delivery of a prize.  Limit one prize per person.

8. GRANT OF LICENSE:  By entering the Contest, entrants grant Sponsor, its agents, subsidiaries and affiliates (the “Licensees”) a non-exclusive, worldwide, perpetual, irrevocable, royalty-free, sub-licensable right to exercise the copyright, publicity, database rights and any other rights entrant has in the Entry, in any media now known or hereafter devised (including without limitation, the internet), without any compensation.  Further, by entering the Contest, entrant grants Licensees the additional license to modify, adapt, translate, create derivative works from, and distribute the Entry (with the understanding that Licensees are under no obligation to do so), or incorporate the Entry into any form, medium or technology, including the right, at each Licensee’s sole discretion, to publish the Entry and to use the Entry for advertising and promotional purposes.  Licensees shall not be required to designate entrant as the creator or author of Entry that is distributed or otherwise exploited by Licensees, or include any references to entrant on, or in connection with, any Entry that is distributed or otherwise exploited by Licensees. 
9. By submitting a Contest Entry, Contest entrant acknowledges and agrees that Sponsor may obtain many Contest Entries in connection with this Contest and/or other contests staged and/or promoted by the Sponsor, and that such Contest Entries may be similar or identical in theme, idea, format or other respects to other Contest Entries submitted in connection with this Contest and/or other contests sponsored by the Sponsor or submitted for other reasons or other materials developed by the Sponsor. Entrant waives any and all claims entrant may have had, may have, and/or may have in the future, that any Contest Entry and/or other works accepted, reviewed and/or used by the entrant may be similar to his/her Contest Entry, or that any compensation is due to entrant in connection with such Contest Entry or other works used by Sponsor.  By submitting a Contest Entry, entrant hereby grants permission for the Contest Entry to be posted on the promotional website or other Sponsor websites. Entrant agrees that Releasees are not responsible for any unauthorized use of Contest Entries by third parties. Releasees do not guarantee the posting of any Contest Entry.
10. REPRESENTATIONS AND WARRANTIES:  Each entrant represents and warrants that:  1) he/she is the original author and creator of the Entry and that the Entry complies with these Official Rules; 2) the Entry is original, has not been previously published and has not previously won any award or Contest; 3) the Entry does not and will not infringe any third party’s copyright, patent, trademark, trade secret or other intellectual property or proprietary rights or rights of publicity or privacy; 4) the Entry is not the subject of any actual or threatened litigation or claim; 5) the Entry is not obscene, offensive, libelous, pornographic, threatening, abusive, objectionable and does not contain illegal content; 6) the Entry does not encourage a criminal offense or otherwise give rise to liability or violate any law; 7) the Entry does not display any logos or trademarks not owned by the Entrant; 8) the Entry does not include any disparaging remarks relating to the Sponsor or any 3^rd Party.   Entrant acknowledges that nothing herein shall constitute an employment, joint venture, or partnership relationship between entrant and Sponsor.  In no way is entrant to be construed as the agent or to be acting as the agent of Sponsor in any respect.

11. ADDITIONAL CONDITIONS OF PARTICIPATION:  By entering, entrants agree to be bound by these Official Rules including all eligibility requirements.  Use of any eBay Site and Sponsor’s use of information submitted by entrants in connection with this Contest will be subject to the terms and conditions stated in these Official Rules as well as to the eBay Users Agreement and Privacy Policy available on the eBay Site.  You will not be eligible for the Contest if your accounts on any eBay Site are not in good standing.  In order for your accounts to be deemed in good standing as that term is used herein, you must not have a hold on your account and your account must not be suspended or past due as of April 21, 2016.  All materials submitted in connection with the Contest become the property of Sponsor and will not be returned. By accepting a prize, winner consents to the use of his/her name, eBay User ID, image, likeness, photograph, voice and biographical material and entry submission for advertising, publicity and promotional purposes by Sponsor, or a party designated by Sponsor, in any and all media now or hereafter known including but not limited to, any online announcements, or for sharing this information with the press for viewing, whether TV or print, throughout the world in perpetuity, without additional compensation, notification or permission, except where prohibited by law.  Entrants agree that the conditions of submission set forth in these Official Rules, and all documents and agreements incorporated in these Official Rules by reference, solely govern the relationship between entrants and eBay in connection with this Contest.  Entrants agree to waive any right to claim ambiguity in these Official Rules.  Entrants agree that any and all disputes shall be governed by the laws of the State of California.

12. LIMITATION OF LIABILITY: ENTRANTS HEREBY AGREE TO RELEASE, INDEMNIFY AND HOLD HARMLESS SPONSOR, AND TENTHWAVE DIGITAL LLC, THEIR RESPECTIVE PARENT COMPANIES, AFFILIATES, SUBSIDIARIES, DIVISIONS, ADVERTISING AND PROMOTION AGENCIES AND THEIR RESPECTIVE EMPLOYEES, OFFICERS, DIRECTORS, AGENTS, REPRESENTATIVES AND SHAREHOLDERS (COLLECTIVELY, THE “RELEASEES”) FROM ANY CLAIMS, ACTIONS, LOSSES, LIABILITIES, COSTS AND EXPENSES (INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO ATTORNEYS’ FEES), INJURY, LOSS OR DAMAGES OF ANY KIND (COLLECTIVELY, “CLAIMS”), INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO, PERSONAL INJURY OR DEATH, RESULTING FROM PARTICIPATING IN THE CONTEST OR ANY CLAIMS ARISING FROM THE ACCEPTANCE, POSSESSION, OR USE OR MISUSE OF ANY PRIZE AWARDED OR PARTICIPATION IN ANY PRIZE-RELATED ACTIVITY.  THIS LIMITATION OF LIABILITY IS A COMPREHENSIVE LIMITATION OF LIABILITY THAT APPLIES TO ALL DAMAGES OF ANY KIND, INCLUDING (WITHOUT LIMITATION) COMPENSATORY, DIRECT, INDIRECT, OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES; LOSS OF DATA, INCOME, OR PROFIT; LOSS OR DAMAGE TO PROPERTY; AND CLAIMS BROUGHT BY THIRD PARTIES.  ELIGIBLE PARTICIPANTS AGREE THAT RELEASEES HAVE NOT MADE NOR ARE IN ANY MANNER RESPONSIBLE OR LIABLE FOR ANY WARRANTY, REPRESENTATION, OR GUARANTEE, STATUTORY, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED (INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO, THE IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY, TITLE, AND FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE), IN FACT OR IN LAW, RELATIVE TO THE CONTEST OR THE PRIZE AWARDED.  WITHOUT LIMITING THE GENERALITY OF THE FOREGOING, RELEASEES DO NOT MAKE ANY EXPRESS OR IMPLIED WARRANTIES OR REPRESENTATIONS WITH RESPECT TO THE EBAY SITE OR ANY PROMOTIONAL WEB SITE AND RELEASEES SHALL NOT BE LIABLE FOR THE CONSEQUENCES OF ANY INTERRUPTIONS OR ERRORS RELATED THERETO. Releasees are not responsible for lost, late, incomplete, illegible, inaccurate, delayed, garbled, damaged, stolen or misdirected entries or submissions, or problems of any kind, whether mechanical, human or electronic.  Releasees are not responsible for technical, hardware or software malfunctions, telephone failures of any kind, lost or unavailable network connections, inability to access a website, inability to submit an entry, or fraud, incomplete, garbled, or delayed computer transmissions or inaccurate transcription of entry information, whether caused by Sponsor, users or by any of the equipment or programming associated with or utilized in the Contest or by any technical or human error which may occur in the processing of submissions which may damage a user’s system or limit an Eligible Participant’s ability to participate in the Contest. Releases are not responsible for late, lost, incomplete, illegible, damaged, postage-due or misdirected entries or mail.   Entry materials that have been tampered with or altered are void.  Sponsor reserves the right, in its sole discretion, to cancel or suspend part or all of the Contest or modify these Official Rules at any time without notice, if in the judges’ opinion there is any suspected or actual evidence of electronic or non-electronic tampering with any portion of the Contest, or if any virus, bugs, non-authorized human intervention or other causes corrupt or impair the administration, security, fairness or integrity and proper play of the Contest or for any other reason in its sole discretion.  In such event, Sponsor may void any entries they suspect are at issue and award the prize from among all non-suspect eligible entries received up to the date of cancellation.  CAUTION:  ANY ATTEMPT BY AN ENTRANT OR ANY OTHER INDIVIDUAL TO DELIBERATELY DAMAGE THE WEBSITE OR ANY ONLINE SERVICE RELATED TO THE CONTEST OR TO UNDERMINE THE LEGITIMATE OPERATION OF THE CONTEST MAY BE A VIOLATION OF CRIMINAL AND CIVIL LAWS AND SHOULD SUCH AN ATTEMPT BE MADE, SPONSOR RESERVES THE RIGHT TO SEEK DAMAGES (INCLUDING ATTORNEY’S FEES) FROM ANY SUCH PERSON TO THE FULLEST EXTENT PERMITTED BY LAW, INCLUDING CRIMINAL PROSECUTION.  Sponsor’s failure to enforce any term of these Official Rules shall not constitute a waiver of such term or any other provision.  Sponsor reserves the right to disqualify any entrant who violates the rules or interferes with the Contest in any manner.  If an entrant is disqualified, Sponsor reserves the right to terminate such entrant’s eligibility to participate in the Contest.  Any attempt by an individual to access any website associated with the Contest via a bot script or other brute force attack or any other unauthorized means will result in that individual’s IP address and all entries from that IP address becoming ineligible.  Use of automated entry devices or programs is prohibited.

Without limiting the generality of the foregoing, each Eligible Participant agrees to release and hold harmless the Releasees from and against any and all claims based on publicity rights, defamation, invasion of privacy, copyright infringement, trademark infringement or any other intellectual property related cause of action that relate in any way to the Entry.

The Sponsor reserves the right, in its sole and absolute discretion, to cancel, amend or suspend this Contest, or to amend these Official Rules, without prior notice or obligation, in the event of any accident, printing, administrative, or other error or any kind, or for any other reason.

13. DISPUTES:  Except where prohibited, all issues and questions concerning the construction, validity, interpretation and enforceability of these Official Rules, or the rights and obligations of the Eligible Participant and Sponsor in connection with the Contest, shall be governed by, and construed in accordance with, the laws of the State of California, without giving effect to any choice of law or conflict of law rules (whether of the State of California, or any other jurisdiction), which would cause the application of the laws of any jurisdiction other than the State of California.

In the event of any discrepancy or inconsistency between the terms and conditions of these Official Rules and disclosures or other statements contained in any Contest-related materials, including, but not limited to: the Website and/or point of sale, television, print or online advertising; the terms and conditions of these Official Rules shall prevail, govern and control.

The Sponsor reserves the right, in its sole and absolute discretion, and without prior notice, to adjust any of the dates and/or timeframes stipulated in these Official Rules, to the extent necessary, for purposes of verifying compliance by any entrant or Entry with these Official Rules, or as a result of technical problems, or in light of any other circumstances which, in the opinion of the Sponsor, in its sole and absolute discretion, affect the proper administration of the Contest as contemplated in these Official Rules.

14. WINNERS’ LIST: For the names of the winners, available after August 31, 2016, mail a self-addressed, stamped envelope by September 15, 2016, to: eBay Be the Blogger Contest Winners, P.O. Box 997, Plainview, NY 11803-0997.

15. SPONSOR & ADMINISTRATOR:  The Sponsor of this Contest is eBay Inc., 2145 Hamilton Avenue, San Jose, CA 95125.  Administrator:  Tenthwave Digital LLC, 35 Pinelawn Road, Suite 108W, Melville, NY  11747.

© Copyright 2016  Tenthwave Digital LLC.  All rights reserved.  Entrants may copy these Official Rules for the sole purpose of personal use and not for any commercial purpose whatsoever.