Lots2Give Contest Official Rules

  1. Eligibility
  2. Sponsor
  3. Agreement to Official Rules
  4. Entry Period
  5. Create an Entry
  6. Submit your Entry
  7. Entrant's Warranties and Representations
  8. Sponsor's Rights to Entries
  9. Selection of Finalists
  10. Selection of Winners
  11. Requirements of a Potential Winner
  12. Prizes
  13. Privacy and Publicity
  14. General Conditions
  15. Release and Limitations of Liability
  16. Disputes
  17. Contest Results

No Purchase Required to Enter or Win

  1. Eligibility: The Lots2Give Contest (the "Contest") is open only to legal residents of forty-eight (48) contiguous United States (including the District of Columbia) who are at least eighteen (18) or have reached the age of majority in their jurisdiction of residence, whichever is older, and who have a valid email address at the time of entry. Employees of Big Lots Stores, Inc. or other companies associated with the promotion of the Contest, as well as the immediate family (spouse, parents, siblings, and children) and household members of each such employee are not eligible.
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  2. Sponsor: The Contest is sponsored by Big Lots Stores, Inc., 300 Phillipi Road, Columbus, OH 43228 (the "Sponsor").
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  3. Agreement to Official Rules: Participation in the Contest constitutes entrant’s full and unconditional agreement to and acceptance of these Official Rules and the decisions of the Sponsor, which are final and binding. Winning a prize is contingent upon fulfilling all requirements set forth herein.
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  4. Entry Period: The Entry Period begins on May 5, 2008 at 12:01 a.m. EDT and ends on June 21, 2008 at 11:59 p.m. EDT. Entries that are submitted before or after the Entry Period will be disqualified.
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  5. Create an Entry: To enter, you must create a video and write an essay explaining why the school you nominated needs financial support. Together, the video and essay constitute your "Entry." The Entry must meet each of the following requirements:
    1. Essays must be 50 words or less. Videos must be 90 seconds or less and no larger than 100 megabytes. Videos must be in one of the following file formats: (i) QuickTime .MOV; (ii) Windows .AVI; or (iii) .MPG with MPEG4 (Divx, Xvid)
    2. The Entry may only name one (1) K-12 school located in the forty-eight (48) contiguous United States (including the District of Columbia).
    3. The Entry may not contain any trademarks, logos, or copyrighted elements other than elements owned by the entrant. Any elements that appear in the Entry, including without limitation, images, music, audio, speech, or other audiovisual materials used must be entirely original, created and performed solely by the entrant, or be in the public domain. Use of any elements that are not original or in the public domain will result in disqualification of the Entry, in the Sponsor's sole discretion.
    4. The Entry may not be obscene or indecent, it must not contain defamatory statements, it must not include threats to any person, place, business, or group, it must not invade privacy rights or any other rights of any person, business, or group, and it must not name or depict any third party without his/her permission.
    5. The Entry may not depict or encourage any dangerous, life-threatening, or otherwise risky behavior.
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  6. Submit your Entry: Once you have created an Entry that meets each of the requirements set forth above, visit www.lots2give.com (the “Website"), fill out the required information, and follow the instructions to submit your Entry. There is a limit of one (1) submission per person. Subsequent submissions will be disqualified.
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  7. Entrant's Warranties and Representations: By submitting an Entry, each entrant warrants and represents:
    1. The Entry (i) is original to the entrant, (ii) does not infringe the intellectual property, privacy, publicity, or any other rights of any third party, (iii) does not violate any law or regulation, (iv) has not previously been entered in any other contest or festival, and (v) has not been previously published in any medium.
    2. To the extent the Entry depicts any individual or features the voice of any individual, the entrant is the individual pictured and heard in the submission, or, alternatively, that the entrant has obtained permission from each person appearing in the Entry or, if that person is a minor, permission from that person's parent or legal guardian, to grant the rights to the Sponsor described in the "Sponsor's Rights to Entries" section below, and can make written copies of such permissions available to the Sponsor upon request.
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  8. Sponsor's Rights to Entries: By submitting a Entry, each entrant:
    1. Irrevocably transfers to the Sponsor all rights and title to the Entry, including, but not limited to, the right to copyright, reproduce, encode, store, copy, transmit, publish, post, broadcast, display, publicly perform, adapt, modify, create derivative works of, exhibit, and otherwise use the Entry as-is or as-edited (with or without using the entrant's name) in any media throughout the world for any purpose, without limitation, and without additional review, compensation, or approval from the entrant or any other party.
    2. Forever waives any rights of copyrights, trademark rights, privacy rights, and any other legal or moral rights that may preclude the Sponsor's use of the entrant's Entry, or require the entrant's permission for the Sponsor to use the Entry.
    3. Agrees not to instigate, support, maintain, or authorize any action, claim, or lawsuit against the Sponsor or the Release Parties (as defined below) on the grounds that any use of the Entry, or any derivative works, infringes any of the entrant’s rights as creator of the Entry, including, without limitation, copyrights, trademark rights, and moral rights.
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  9. Selection of Finalists: After the Entry Period, a panel of Judges selected by the Sponsor will evaluate all entries based on the following criteria (the "Judging Criteria"): school need (50%); creativity (20%); inspiration (20%); and delivery of message (10%). The Judges will select one hundred (100) Finalists. No more than ten (10) Finalists will be selected per state and no more than one (1) Finalist will be selected per school. The decisions of the Judges are final. The odds of being selected depend on the relative performance of all entrants and the number of eligible entries received.
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  10. Selection of Winners: From approximately June 30, 2008 through July 22, 2008 at 11:59 p.m. EDT, the Finalists' Entries will be posted on the Website and members of the public will be invited to vote for their favorite Entries. There is a limit of three (3) votes per person per day. The Grand Prize, First Prize, and Second Prize winners will be determined based on the voting results. Winners will be announced on or about August 2, 2008.
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  11. Requirements of a Potential Winner: Except where prohibited, a potential winner may be required to sign and return an affidavit of eligibility and a release form. Documents must be signed and returned to the Sponsor within seven (7) days of being notified.
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  12. Prizes: Prizes will be given to the schools named in the winning Entries. The school named in the one (1) Grand Prize winner's Entry will receive $10,000. The school named in each of the three (3) First Prize winner's Entries will each receive $5,000. The school named in each of the twenty-two (22) Second Prize winner's Entries will each receive $2,500. Any prize details not specified above will be determined by the Sponsor in its sole discretion. Prizes are not transferable or refundable and must be accepted as awarded. Each school that receives a prize will be responsible for any resulting taxes.
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  13. Privacy and Publicity: All information submitted by entrants in the Contest will be treated according to the Sponsor's Privacy Policy available on the Website. Except where prohibited by law, participation in the Contest constitutes an entrant's consent to the Sponsor's use of his/her name, likeness, voice, opinions, biographical information, and state of residence for promotional purposes in any media without further payment or consideration.
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  14. General Conditions: In the event that the operation, security, or administration of the Contest is impaired in any way for any reason, including, but not limited to fraud, virus, or other technical problem, the Sponsor may, in its sole discretion, either (a) suspend the Contest to address the impairment and then resume the Contest in a manner that best conforms to the spirit of these Official Rules or (b) award the prizes according to the Judging Criteria from among the eligible entries received up to the time of the impairment. The Sponsor reserves the right in its sole discretion to disqualify any individual it finds to be tampering with the entry process or the operation of the Contest or to be acting in violation of these Official Rules or in an unsportsmanlike or disruptive manner. Any attempt by any person to undermine the legitimate operation of the Contest may be in violation of criminal and civil law, 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. Failure by the Sponsor to enforce any provision of these Official Rules shall not constitute a waiver of that provision. In the event of a dispute as to any online entry, the authorized account holder of the e-mail address used to enter will be deemed to be the entrant. The "authorized account holder" is the natural person who is assigned to an e-mail address by an Internet access provider, online service provider, or other organization responsible for assigning e-mail addresses for the domain associated with the submitted e-mail address. The Contest is subject to federal, state, and local laws and regulations and is void in Alaska, Hawaii, and where prohibited.
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  15. Release and Limitations of Liability: By participating in the Contest, entrants agree to release and hold harmless the Sponsor and its affiliated companies and their respective officers, directors, employees, and agents (the "Released Parties") from and against any claim or cause of action arising out of participation in the Contest or receipt or use of any prize, including, but not limited to: (a) any technical errors that may prevent an entrant from submitting an entry; (b) unauthorized human intervention in the Contest; (c) printing errors; (d) lost, late, postage-due, misdirected, or undeliverable mail; (e) errors in the administration of the Contest or the processing of entries; or (f) injury, death, or damage to persons or property which may be caused, directly or indirectly, in whole or in part, from entrant's participation in the Contest or receipt of any prize. Entrant further agrees that in any cause of action, the Released Parties' liability will be limited to the cost of entering and participating in the Contest, and in no event shall the Released Parties be liable for attorney's fees. Entrant waives the right to claim any damages whatsoever, including, but not limited to, punitive, consequential, direct, or indirect damages.
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  16. Disputes: Except where prohibited, entrant agrees that any and all disputes, claims and causes of action arising out of, or connected with, the Contest or any prize awarded shall be resolved individually, without resort to any form of class action, and exclusively by the appropriate court located in Franklin County, Ohio. All issues and questions concerning the construction, validity, interpretation and enforceability of these Official Rules, entrant's rights and obligations, or the rights and obligations of the Sponsor in connection with the Contest, shall be governed by, and construed in accordance with, the laws of the State of Ohio, without giving effect to any choice of law or conflict of law rules (whether of the State of Ohio or any other jurisdiction), which would cause the application of the laws of any jurisdiction other than the State of Ohio.
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  17. Contest Results: To request a winners list, send a self-addressed, stamped envelope to ASC/"Lots2Give" Contest Winners List, 300 State Street, Suite 402, Rochester, NY 14614. Requests must be received by October 1, 2008.
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