American Baby Cover Contest Offical Rules

NO PURCHASE NECESSARY TO ENTER OR WIN. 

The American Baby Cover Contest “Moment of Discovery” begins July 15, 2008 and ends September 15, 2008.  Entries must be received by 11:59 p.m., E.T., on September 15, 2008. Entries become the property of Meredith Corporation, 1716 Locust St., Des Moines, Iowa (“Sponsor”) and will not be acknowledged or returned.

ENTRY: Visit www.americanbaby.com/covercontest and submit one gallery of up to six (6) nonprofessional photos taken after January 15, 2008, by you or at your direction, showing your child’s photogenic quality and appearance and moment when the subject child has discovered something for the first time.

Photos must be .jpeg or .bmp image formats and cannot exceed 3 MB.  Also include a short caption of 50 words or less describing the child’s special moment.

You must be the parent or legal guardian of the child depicted in the photo and photos must be taken by the entrant, unpublished and may not have won any prize or award. 

LIMIT:  One entry per household, per eligible child. For entries of more than one child, the entry process must be separate for each child. No group entries.

ELIGIBILITY: Contest is open to legal residents of the 50 United States, and the District of Columbia, 18 years or older, who are the parent or legal guardian of a child(ren) 3 years of age or younger at time of entry. Employees of Sponsor, and any other organizations affiliated with the sponsorship, fulfillment, administration, prize support, advertisement or promotion and/or their respective agents, affiliates, subsidiaries, and members of their immediate families or persons residing at the same address are ineligible. 

WINNER SELECTION:  Visitors to the contest website will be invited to make one recommendation per day during the contest period for the entry the visitor believes should be featured on the cover of American Baby magazine. Visitor recommendations will not be used as criteria in the judging of entries. On or about September 16, 2008, a qualified panel of judges will judge eligible entries on the basis of creativity in photo and caption’s depiction of a moment of discovery (40%), photogenic quality and appearance (60%).  Five (5) grand prize winners will be selected. In the event of a tie, the winning entry will be the entry among the tied entries with the higher/highest score in the criterion of photogenic quality and appearance.  Potential winners will be notified by phone and/or mail on or about September 16, 2008.  Sponsor reserves the right to request additional information from entrants. Sponsor also reserves the right to select fewer than five (5) winners if, in its sole discretion, a sufficient number of eligible and qualified entries are not received. Decisions of judges are final and binding in all respects. 

PRIZING: Five (5) grand prize winners will each receive a trip package for three (3) to New York City (“NYC”) to participate in a photo shoot. Parents/legal guardians and child will be required to travel to New York for the photo shoot for two nights between September 25-30, 2008, at Sponsor’s discretion. Failure to attend the photo shoot and/or travel on selected dates will result in disqualification and forfeiting of prize.  Trip package includes round-trip coach air transportation for three (two parents/legal guardians and one child) to NYC from major airport nearest each winner’s home and two nights standard hotel accommodations (one room), approximate retail value (“ARV”) $4,000. One (1) grand prize winner’s photo will appear on the cover of the December, 2008 issue of American Baby magazine and other grand prize winners’ photos will appear inside the same issue.Each grand prize winner will also receive a Baby Einstein gift package, ARV $200. Total ARV of each grand prize package: $4,200. Meals, incidentals, taxes, gratuities, and any other expenses not specified herein are the sole responsibility of each winner. Sponsor reserves the right to substitute a prize (or portions thereof) of equal or greater value if prize (or portions thereof) cannot be awarded as described. Sponsor will determine all elements of prizing in its sole discretion. Prizes may not be assigned, transferred, changed or redeemed for cash, except at the sole discretion of Sponsor.   Prizes are awarded “as is” with no warranty or guarantee express or implied. Sponsor disclaims all and any liability for the actual provision, quality or nature of any third party product or service accepted by the winners. The awarding of any prize is contingent upon full compliance with these Official Rules.  Entrants agree to be bound by Official Rules and agree that if any winner fails to provide proof of identity, refuses to provide required affidavit, is found to have violated the Official Rules or otherwise does not meet eligibility criteria, prize will be forfeited and awarded to the entrant with the next highest score. Entrants understand that Sponsor is not liable for injuries, losses or damages of any kind arising from participation in this promotion and acceptance, possession and use of prize. Sponsor is not responsible for any typographical or other error in the printing of the offer, administration of the contest or in the announcement of the prize. Decisions of Sponsor are final and binding in all respects. 

PRIVACY:  By entering and providing the required entry information, you acknowledge that Sponsor may also send you information, samples or special offers it believes may be of interest to you about Sponsor’s publications or other complementary goods offered by Sponsor or by The Baby Einstein Company, LLC. Information collected from online entrants is subject to Sponsor’s privacy policy at www.americanbaby.com. IF YOU DO NOT WISH TO SHARE YOUR INFORMATION, PLEASE DO NOT ENTER THIS PROMOTION.

DISPUTE RESOLUTION:  Except where prohibited, by participating Contest entrants agree that:  All issues and questions concerning the construction, validity, interpretation and enforceability of these Official Rules, or the rights and obligations of participant(s) and Sponsor and its agents shall be governed by and construed exclusively in accordance with the laws of the State of New York without giving effect to any principles of conflicts of law of any jurisdiction. Entrant agrees that any action at law or in equity arising out of or relating to this Contest, or awarding of the prizes, shall be filed only in the state or federal courts located in the State of New York and entrant hereby consents and submits to the personal jurisdiction of such courts for the purposes of litigating any such action. Except where prohibited, by participating in this Contest, entrant agrees that: (a) any and all disputes, claims, and causes of action arising out of or connected with this Contest, or awarding of the prizes, shall be resolved individually, without resort to any form of class action; and (b) any and all claims, judgments and awards shall be limited to actual out-of-pocket costs incurred, including costs associated with participating in this Contest but in no event attorneys' fees; and (c) under no circumstances will any participant be permitted to obtain awards for and hereby waives all rights to claim punitive, incidental and consequential damages and any other damages, other than for actual out-of-pocket expenses, and any and all rights to have damages multiplied or otherwise increased. Some jurisdictions do not allow the limitations or exclusion of liability for incidental or consequential damages, so the above may not apply to you.

INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY RIGHTS:  By entering the contest, entrants acknowledge that they own all intellectual property rights that relate to their entry and agree to assign their intellectual property rights to Sponsor and permit Sponsor to use their entry in any media for any purpose whatsoever. Entrants who do not agree to this use should not enter this contest. 

OTHER:  Sponsor assumes no responsibility for entries it is unable to process due to network, hardware or other technical failures; or any other reason, or incomplete, damaged, misdirected, or lost entries.  Sponsor reserves the right, in its sole discretion to disqualify any person tampering with the entry process, the operation of the web site or otherwise in violation of the rules. Sponsor further reserves the right, in its sole discretion, to cancel, terminate or modify this promotion if not capable of completion as planned, including infection by computer virus, technical corruption, non-authorized human intervention or force majeure.  In the event of cancellation, Sponsor reserves the right to select winners from among all eligible entries received prior to date of cancellation.  The use of automated entry systems or any other conduct that impedes the integrity of the contest is prohibited.  In the event of a dispute regarding online entry, entry will be deemed made by the holder of an established e-mail account associated with the entry. Sponsor reserves the right, in its sole discretion, to reject, disqualify, modify, edit, and revise any entries, subjects or related materials that are nude, obscene, defamatory, profane, offensive, lewd, pornographic, false, misleading, deceptive, or otherwise inconsistent with Sponsor’s editorial standards, audience expectations, or reputational interests or that Sponsor believes may violate any applicable law or regulation or the rights of any third party.  Sponsor reserves the right, in its sole discretion, to verify any element of any entry or related materials and to disqualify any entrant whose participation may subject the contest, Sponsor’s advertisers, clients, or customers to controversy, negative publicity, scorn, or ridicule.  

GENERAL:  Except where prohibited by law: (i) entry constitutes permission to use entrants’ entry, name, hometown, voice, likeness, photograph and any statements regarding this contest for editorial, public relations, promotional and advertising purposes on behalf of Sponsor without compensation; (ii) potential winners will be required to complete and return an Affidavit of Eligibility/Ownership/Liability Release, Publicity Release and Copyright Assignment within three (3) days of notification or the entry with the next highest score may become an alternate winner. If winner notification is returned as undeliverable, the entry with the next highest score may become an alternate winner.  By participating and winning a prize, winners release Sponsor, and its parents, affiliates, subsidiaries and agencies and their respective directors, officers, employees and agents from any and all liability with respect to the prize won and participation in the contest. Subject to all U. S. federal, state and local laws and regulations.  Void where prohibited.  Taxes on prizes are the sole responsibility of the winners. Winners will be issued a 1099 tax form in the amount of the actual prize retail value. For winners’ names, available after October 15, 2008, send a separate, self-addressed, stamped envelope to Winners’ List/American Baby Cover Contest Moment of Discovery, 375 Lexington Ave., LX-1028, New York, NY 10017. VT residents may omit return postage.