YOUTUBE RAP CONTEST IS OPEN ONLY TO LEGAL RESIDENTS OF THE UNITED STATES OF MAJORITY AGE AS OF AUGUST 9, 2007.
NO PURCHASE OR PAYMENT OF ANY KIND IS NECESSARY TO ENTER OR WIN THIS CONTEST. FINALISTS ARE REQUIRED TO COMPLETE AND SUBMIT ENTRY DOCMENTATION BY DUE DATE. FAILURE TO DO SO MAY RESULT IN DISQUALIFICATION OF ENTRY.
1. Contest Dates: YouTube Rap Contest ("Contest") begins August 10, 2007 at 12:01:00 AM Eastern Time ("ET"), and ends September 5, 2007 at 11:59:59 PM ET ("Contest Period"). During the Contest Period there is a single open call for video entries and two judging events which start and end on or about the dates and times noted below:
| EVENTS | Events START at 12:00:01 AM ET on Dates Noted | Events END at 11:59:59 PM ET on Dates Noted |
| OPEN CALL FOR OF ENTRIES | August 10 | August 17 |
| YOUTUBE JUDGING TO SELECT 20 FINALISTS | August 18 | August 28 |
| MEMBER VOTE TO SELECT PRIZE WINNERS | August 29 | September 5 |
2. Sponsor: YouTube, Inc. 901 Cherry Ave., San Bruno CA. 94066. Contest Partner: G- Unit/Interscope Records, 2220 Colorado Ave. Santa Monica, CA 90404. Administrator: Marden-Kane, Inc., 36 Maple Place, Manhasset, NY 11030. Collectively referred to as the "Contest Entities".
3. Eligibility: Participation in this Contest is open to persons who are legal residents of the fifty (50) United States at least age of majority in their state of residence as of August 9, 2007 and are registered members of YouTube in good standing. Not eligible to enter are employees, officers, directors (including immediate family members) of the Contest Entities and their respective parents, affiliated and subsidiary companies, advertising and promotion agencies, legal and financial advisors and any and all other companies associated with this Contest. "Immediate family" means parents, spouses, children, siblings or any members of the same households of such employees and directors. Contest void in Puerto Rico, all US territories and possessions and where prohibited by law. There is no fee or charge to become a registered YouTube member.
4. How to Enter Contest: To enter, create and submit one YouTube Rap video up to 5 minutes in length. Entrants' initial YouTube Rap may be submitted anytime during the Open Call for Entries (see rule #1 for dates and times) at the YouTube Rap area located online at www.youtube.com. Limit one entry per You Tube member. If more than one entry is submitted by a member in the Open Call only the first entry received by that member will be judged. Entries not submitted in accordance with the instructions provided on the YouTube website and the terms and conditions in the Official Rules, shall not be considered in the Contest.
5. YouTube Rap Video Technical Requirements:
6. Entry Terms: By entering, entrants agree to comply with YouTube's Terms of Use
(www.youtube.com/t/terms) and Privacy Policy www.youtube.com/t/privacy; and with these complete
Official Rules. By entering, entrant warrants that his or her idea and video and all elements thereof satisfy
the Terms and Conditions of YouTube's Terms of Use and that the initial and possible subsequent entries:
(i) are the original work of the entrant; (ii) have not previously won an award or prize of any kind; (iii) do
not infringe or violate the rights of any third party, including but not limited to, copyrights, trademarks,
patents, trade secrets, logos, contract and licensing rights, rights of publicity or privacy, moral rights, or
any other intellectual property rights; (iv) are not subject to any third party agreements, and that the
Sponsors will not be required to pay or incur any sums to any person or entity as a result of their use or
exploitation of the idea or video or rights therein; (v) any required permits from local authorities and other
permissions have been obtained; vi) do not contain any content that is likely to be considered offensive by
the Sponsors or could adversely affect the name, reputation, or goodwill of the Sponsors. Sponsors
reserve the right to verify the legitimacy of all submitted releases or permissions or to supply a release
form which must be executed in full and returned within 48 hours of attempted notification. If the
appropriate form(s) are not received as directed, the entry will be disqualified. Sponsors reserve the right
to disqualify any entries that, in the Sponsor's sole and absolute discretion, (i) include trademarks, logos,
or copyrighted material not owned by entrant or used without permission (such as company names,
music, photographs, works of art or images published on or in websites, television, movies or other
media); (ii) use individuals' names in whole or in part (including the entrant's last name); (iii) refer to
public figures; (iv) contain profanity, pornographic or sexual content, content promoting alcohol, illegal
drugs, tobacco, or firearms or weapons, hateful content of any kind (including racism, sexism, etc.),
content that promotes violence or harm to another living creature; (v) promote a political agenda
regardless of the political affiliation and regardless of Sponsors' treatment of other entries that may or
may not promote a political agenda; (vi) defame, misrepresent, or contain disparaging remarks about
other people or companies; (vii) contain materials embodying the names, likenesses, photographs or other
identifying elements of any person, living or dead without permission; (viii) may not involve a level of
professional caliber production assistance (in any capacity) that violates the spirit of an amateur
competition.
Entries may only be submitted by individuals who are not "Professionals". A 'Professional' is someone
who currently has a recording contract with a record label or who has earned more than $15,000 (2006 tax
year) from music the entrant participated in creating and/or performing. Group entries will not be
accepted (although different individuals might have taken part in the making of a YouTube Rap video,
only one individual may be considered to have produced and submitted the video). Contest Entities and
their respective parents, subsidiaries, affiliates and each of their respective officers, directors,
shareholders, agents and employees, and any Internet access providers (collectively "Released Parties")
are not responsible for incorrect or inaccurate entry of information, human error, technical malfunction,
lost/delayed data transmission, omission, interruption, deletion, defect, line failure of any telephone,
computer or other network, computer equipment, software or any combination thereof, inability to access
the YouTube web site, for problems uploading or downloading any Contest-related materials from the
web site, or for late, lost, damaged, misdirected, incorrect or incomplete entry. For purposes of these
Official Rules, receipt of entry occurs when Sponsor's servers successfully receive the uploaded video
file and record the required entry information including the following: YouTube Rap video title,
description, director's name, street address, city, state, ZIP Code, phone number and email address and
any other information on the Contest website. Any entry information collected from the Contest shall be
used only in a manner consistent with the consent given by entrants at the time of entry, with these
Official Rules, and with Sponsor's Privacy Policy which can be found at www.youtube.com. Persons who
are under contract with a recording company during the Contest Period are not eligible to enter this
contest.
7. Judging to Determine Finalists: All eligible Entries received during the Open Call for Entries will be judged by a panel of judges including celebrities retained by the Sponsor and Contest Partner. This panel will score each eligible entrant's YouTube Rap video based on the following weighted judging criteria:
8. Finalist Notification: The twenty (20) finalists will be notified by telephone and/or email no later than August, 24 2007 and will be required to sign and properly execute the following documents and return them via facsimile (and subsequently by mail) to Administrator by August 28, 2007: (1) an Affidavit of Eligibility and Liability Waiver; (2) where lawful, a Publicity Release. If any documents sent by any means to a finalist are returned as undeliverable or if a finalist fails to properly execute and return all documents described herein in the time noted, or if a finalist is found not to be eligible or not in compliance with these Official Rules and YouTube terms and conditions the finalist will be disqualified and the next highest scoring entry will move up and notified time permitting and at the sole discretion of the Sponsor.
9. Member Voting to Determine: One (1) Grand Prize Winner, One (1) First Prize Winner and One (1) Second Prize Winner: Up to twenty (20) Finalist Rap videos will be posted on The YouTube Rap web site for member voting. Using the YouTube Rap Voting Tool, registered YouTube members will have the opportunity to rank (1 through 20 with 1 being the highest ranking) the Finalist YouTube Rap videos during the Member Voting period (see rule #1 for dates/times). Instructions for using the Voting Tool will be provided. Limit one Voting Tool use per registered YouTube member account per hour during public voting period. At the conclusion of the Voting Period the votes will be tabulated by the Sponsor. In the event of a tie at any level, all tied entries will be re-judged by an additional judge selected by Sponsor, who, using the judging criteria will break the tie. The top ranked entry will be deemed the Grand Prize Winner. The next two highest ranking entries will be deemed winners of the First and Second prizes respectively. Prize Winners will be announced at www.youtube.com on or about September 8, 2007. Designation as a Finalist and/or a prize winner is subject to proof of compliance with Official Rules, maintaining compliance with these Official Rules and YouTube membership and approval by Sponsors. The judges' decisions are final and binding in all matters relating to this Contest.
10. Prizes: (1) Grand Prize: A 3 day/2 night trip to New York City with one recording studio session courtesy of G-Unit/Interscope Records; $2,000 Cash; a Boss BR-1600 Digital Multitrack Recorder, approx. retail value, $1,495; a Roland MV-8800 Production Studio, approx. retail value, $2,685; and a $10,000 Guitar Center Gift Card. Trip portion of Grand Prize consists of round-trip coach air transportation for Grand Prize winner (only) from a single major U.S. airport nearest winner's home (as determined by Sponsor) to a New York City area airport, single occupancy hotel accommodations for two nights, and $2,000 cash. Recording studio portion of prize includes approximately 8 hours of studio and post-production time and appropriate production staff to record, mix and master a track with the original vocals performed by the Grand Prize winner (the lyrics of which may differ from the lyrics submitted as entry in this contest). Dates for travel, are at the sole discretion of Sponsor and Contest Partner. Winner will receive less than 30 days notice prior to trip departure. In the event that the recording studio portion of prize is unable to take place as planned, for reasons including but not limited to scheduling conflicts, cancellations, postponement, an event of force majeure or for any other reason, then the remaining components of the Grand Prize shall constitute full satisfaction of Sponsor's prize obligation to the Grand Prize Winner, and no other or additional compensation will be awarded. Further, if winner cannot be in New York City on dates specified by the Sponsor and Contest Partner, the Sponsor and Contest Partner shall have no further obligation to the Grand Prize Winner other than to supply the trip to New York City as described within six months from date of prize notification. All other expenses relating to acceptance of Grand Prize not explicitly stated herein, including but not limited to taxes, meals, beverages, alcoholic beverages and gratuities are responsibility of Grand Prize Winner. Specifics of Grand Prize travel package and recording studio session are subject to availability and Sponsor's sole discretion. Complete terms and conditions of Grand Prize will be furnished with prize notification. Travel must be made through Sponsor's agent on a carrier of Sponsor's choice. Reservations are subject to availability. Travel restrictions and blackout dates may apply. Winner is responsible for obtaining all required travel documents. If winner resides within a 100 mile radius of New York City, ground transportation may be provided for winner in lieu of air transportation and no compensation or substitution will be provided for difference in prize value. The track recorded by the Grand Prize winner shall be the exclusive property of G-Unit/Interscope Records who retains the right to release (or not) the track commercially or otherwise without any additional compensation to the Grand Prize Winner. Grand Prize Winner agrees to execute any and all documentation that may be required by G-Unit/Interscope Records evidencing that all right, title and interest in and to the track shall belong to G-Unit/Interscope. For a period of 90-days following the recording session G-Unit/Interscope Records retains the right to enter into an exclusive recording agreement between itself and the Grand Prize winner upon terms and conditions to be mutually negotiated. If such an agreement is reached it will be exclusive of this contest. Estimated total retail value of Grand Prize is $17,530. Actual value may vary based on place of departure and dates of travel. One (1) First Prize: a $5,000 Guitar Center Gift Card. One (1) Second Prize: A $2,000 Guitar Center Gift Card. Total estimated retail value of all prizes is $24,530. Prizes are non-transferable; no substitutions or cash awards allowed, except at the sole discretion of the Sponsor in which case a prize of equal or greater value will be awarded. All federal, state or other tax liabilities are the responsibility of the winners. All details of any prize not specified herein shall be determined solely by Sponsors. Gift Card usage subject to terms and conditions disclosed on card and winners state of residence. Any and all guarantees and warranties for merchandise prizes are subject to the manufacturer's terms and conditions, and winner agrees to look solely to such manufacturer for any such warranty or guarantee claims.
11. Notification of Winners: The potential Grand, First and Second prize winners will be notified by mail, telephone, and/or email on or about September, 5 2007. Winners may be asked to complete additional forms (e.g. travel release, assignment of copyright for Grand Prize winner) at the sole discretion of the Sponsor unless prohibited by law. If any documents sent to a potential Winner by any means are returned as undeliverable or a potential Winner fails to properly execute and return all documents described herein in the time noted, or if a potential Winner is found not to be eligible or not in compliance with these Official Rules the potential prize winner will be disqualified and the next highest scoring entry may be moved up, at the discretion of Sponsor and notified. No more than one (1) Grand, one (1) First, and one (1) Second prize will be awarded. Except where prohibited by law Sponsor may announce the name, home city and state of winners online. In the event that a potential winner is disqualified for any reason at any time, Sponsor may in its sole discretion award the prize to the next highest scoring entry even if the disqualified potential winner's name may have been shown/announced online. Contest Entities shall not have any responsibility or liability whatsoever for any property loss, damage, personal injury, or death, in connection with any person's participation in the Contest or any prize awarded herein.
12. Additional Contest Terms: By entering this Contest, and to the extent allowed by law, entrants grant Sponsors and their licensees the absolute right and permission to edit, modify, publish, exploit and use the content of and elements embodied in the entries and the entries themselves in perpetuity in any and all media including but not limited to digital and electronic media, computer, audio and audiovisual media (whether now existing or hereafter devised), in any language, throughout the world, and in any manner, for trade, advertising, promotional, commercial, or any other purposes without further approval or consideration. Contestants waive and release Sponsors, from any and all claims that entrants may now or hereafter have in any jurisdiction based on "moral rights" or "droit moral" or unfair competition with respect to Sponsors' exploitation of entries without further compensation to entrants of any kind, and agree not to instigate, support, maintain, or authorize any action, claim, or lawsuit against Sponsors or their licensees, or any other person in connection with this Contest, on the grounds that any use of any entry, or any derivative works, infringe or violate any of entrants rights therein. Entrants agree that Sponsors and their licensees shall have the right and permission to use the name, photograph, testimonial or other likeness and/or prize information or personal exposition (and/or any edited portion thereof) for promotional, advertising and/or publicity purposes in any media, now or hereafter known throughout the world in perpetuity, without compensation or notice to, or further consent of, to the winner to the extent permitted by law. Sponsors will not enter into any correspondence, including e-mail, with non-winning entrants. Sponsor and Administrator reserve the right, in their sole discretion, to disqualify any individual found tampering with the entry process or entry materials. ALL ENTRANTS ACCEPT THE CONDITIONS STATED IN THESE OFFICIAL RULES, AGREE TO BE BOUND BY THE DECISIONS OF THE JUDGES AND PUBLIC VOTING, WARRANT THAT THEY ARE ELIGIBLE TO PARTICIPATE IN THIS CONTEST AND RELEASE CONTEST ENTITIES FROM AND AGAINST ALL CLAIMS AND DAMAGES ARISING IN CONNECTION WITH THEIR PARTICIPATION AND/OR ENTRY IN THE CONTEST AND/OR AWARDING OF OR USE OF ANY PRIZE AWARDED IN THIS CONTEST. ANY ATTEMPT TO DELIBERATELY DAMAGE ANY WEB SITE OR UNDERMINE THE LEGITIMATE OPERATION OF THE CONTEST IS A VIOLATION OF CRIMINAL AND CIVIL LAWS AND, SHOULD SUCH AN ATTEMPT BE MADE, THE SPONSORS AND THEIR LICENSEES RESERVE THE RIGHT TO SEEK DAMAGES OR OTHER REMEDIES FROM ANY SUCH PERSON(S) RESPONSIBLE FOR ANY SUCH ATTEMPT TO THE FULLEST EXTENT PERMITTED BY LAW. ENTRANTS (OR IF ENTRANT IS NOT OF AGE OF MAJORITY IN THEIR STATE OF RESIDENCE, GUARDIANS OF SUCH) AGREE TO INDEMNIFY AND HOLD HARMLESS THE SPONSORS AND LICENSEES FROM AND AGAINST ANY AND ALL CLAIMS, LOSSES, DAMAGES OR LIABILITY (INCLUDING REASONABLE ATTORNEYS' FEES AND EXPENSES) THAT MAY BE ASSERTED AGAINST OR INCURRED BY ANY OF THEM AT ANY TIME, IN CONNECTION WITH ENTRY, OR USE THEREOF, OR BY RESPECTIVE ENTRANTS' BREACHES OF ANY AGREEMENT OR WARRANTY ASSOCIATED WITH THE CONTEST. This Contest is governed by U.S. law and is subject to all applicable federal, state and local laws. Any and all legal actions or claims arising in connection with this Contest must be brought in a court of competent jurisdiction in the state of California If, in Sponsor's opinion, there is any suspected or actual evidence of electronic or non-electronic tampering with any portion of the Contest, or if technical difficulties compromise the integrity of the Contest, the Sponsor reserves the right to void suspect entries and/or votes and/or terminate the Contest and award the prize in its sole discretion. The use of any automated launching or entry software or any other mechanical or electronic means that permits the participant to automatically enter or vote repeatedly is prohibited. In the event of a dispute as to the identity of an entrant based on an e-mail address and/or YouTube account information, the entry in question may be disqualified subject to the judges' discretion. Should the Contest be terminated prior to the stated expiration date, Sponsor will endeavor to post notice of termination at www.youtube.com.
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(c) 2007 Marden-Kane, Inc. All rights reserved. These Official Rules may not be copied, edited or used for any other purpose, commercial or otherwise without the express written consent of Marden-Kane, Inc.