Contest Rules

By entering the Windows Live “Portraits of Mom” Photo Contest (the “Contest”), you agree to abide by these Official Rules and the decisions of Microsoft Corporation (the “Sponsor” who may also be referred to below as “Microsoft,” “we,” “us,” or “our”), and the judges, which shall be final and binding on all matters pertaining to this Contest. Contest is subject to all applicable federal, state, and local laws.

1) CONTEST DESCRIPTION:

The object of this Contest is to submit an original Mother’s Day themed photograph. For the purpose of this Contest, the photograph you create and submit in the Contest along with your submitted Windows Live Spaces URL (see below) will be called an “entry.”

2) ELIGIBILITY:

You are eligible to enter this Contest if you:

Are a legal resident of the 50 United States or the District of Columbia; and
Are an amateur photographer, NOT a professional photographer. (For the purposes of this Contest, a “professional photographer” is defined as someone who within the last five (5) years has generated at least 50 percent of their annual income from photography work prior to the time of entry); and
Are at least thirteen (13) years old at the time of entry (entrants who are under the age of 18 must obtain parental consent prior to participating); and
Have an active Windows Live Spaces account (obtaining an account is free). To obtain and use a Windows Live Spaces account, visit http://get.live.com/spaces/overview, click Get it free and follow the directions provided to create an account. A Windows Live Spaces account must be created before photo can be submitted; and
Are not employed by Microsoft Corporation or any of its parents, affiliates, subsidiaries, participating vendors or advertising or promotion agencies, or anyone working directly on this program, product, and promotion (collectively the “Released Parties”); and
Are NOT an immediate family member (parent, child, spouse, sibling, and their respective spouses, regardless of where they reside or a person living in the same household, whether or not related), of any of the employees of the Released Parties.

3) START AND END DATES:

The Contest begins at 12:00:01 A.M. Pacific Time (“PT”) on April 14, 2008 and ends at 11:59:59 P.M. PT on May 15, 2008 (“Entry Period”). The Entry Period will be divided into: (i) Daily Entry Periods and (ii) Weekly Entry Periods. For the purposes of this Contest, a day begins at 12:00:01 A.M. PT and ends at 11:59:59 P.M. PT and a week begins each Saturday at 12:00:01 A.M. PT and ends on the following Friday at 11:59:59 P.M. PT (with the exception of the first week, which begins at 12:00:01 A.M. PT on Sunday, April 14, 2008 and ends at 11:59:59 P.M. PT on Friday, April 18, 2008). All entries must be received by the specified deadline for the applicable Entry Period to be eligible; any entries received after the applicable deadline will be void and will not be considered for judging for that Entry Period.

4) ENTRY REQUIREMENTS:

In order to be eligible for judging, an entry must meet the following requirements:

Your photograph must be original, may not have been previously published, may not have won previous awards, and must have been created and be owned exclusively by you.
You must have permission from all recognizable persons featured in the photograph (or their parent/legal guardian if they are a minor), as well as permission from the owner(s) if copyrighted or trademarked materials are visible in the image.

Entries may not knowingly contain, as determined by us, in our sole and absolute discretion, any content that:

Is sexually explicit, unnecessarily violent or derogatory of any ethnic, racial, gender, religious, professional, or age group; profane or pornographic;
Promotes alcohol, illegal drugs, tobacco, firearms/weapons (or the use of any of the foregoing) or any political agenda;
Is obscene or offensive in any way, at the sole discretion of Microsoft;
Defames, misrepresents, or contains disparaging remarks about other people or companies;
Contains trademarks, logos, or trade dress (such as distinctive packaging or building exteriors/interiors) owned by others without their permission;
Contains materials owned by others (including photographs, sculptures, paintings, and other works of art or images published on or in Web sites, television, movies, or other media) without their permission;
Contains materials embodying the names, likenesses, voices, or other indicia identifying any person (other than the member of your family or community for which you have received consent) , including, without limitation, celebrities and/or other public or private figures, alive or dead;
Contains look-alikes of celebrities or other private or public figures, alive or dead;
Communicates messages or images inconsistent with the positive images and/or good will to which we wish to associate; and/or violates any law.

We reserve the right to modify or reject any entry, in our sole and absolute discretion, that we determine does not meet the above criteria.

5) HOW TO SUBMIT YOUR ENTRY:

To enter, you must log on to your Windows Live Spaces account at http://home.services.spaces.live.com and upload your photograph by following the directions provided; then, visit http://portraitsofmom.com (“Contest Web Site”) and follow the directions provided to select the Mother’s Day category (“Category”) from the three (3) choices provided which most closely fits your entry: 1. Sharing, 2. Connecting, or 3. Fun, and then submit your Windows Live Spaces URL for entry. Photos must comply with Windows Live Spaces format and size requirements.

Limit fifteen (15) unique entries per person and per e-mail address per day. Additional entries received on any given day from any person or e-mail address after the first fifteen (15) unique entries received on that day from that person or e-mail address will be void, regardless of Category.

To be considered “unique” each image must be substantially different from the others you have submitted. So by way of example, you cannot submit multiple images of the same scene featuring the same people and/or items in the images varying slightly. You must choose the “best” image in that series to submit and cannot submit additional images from the same series. You may not submit the same image more than once, regardless of the Category under which it is submitted.

You may, however, submit multiple images of the same person or the same scene so long as they are unique. For example, you may submit multiple images of the same scene featuring different people in each. Or you may submit multiple images of the same person so long as they are in substantially unique scenes in each image.

Microsoft Corporation reserves the right to determine the uniqueness of entries, and their decisions are final and binding in all matters pertaining to this Contest.

Lost, late, incomplete, inaccurate, stolen, misdirected, undelivered, and/or garbled entries as well as entries generated by any script, macro, or other automated means will be disqualified.

6) THE JUDGING OF ENTRIES:

Community Voting: Windows Live ID members (including entrants) will be encouraged to vote for their favorite photos. There is a limit of one (1) vote per person and per e-mail address per day across all categories. Subsequent votes received from the same person or e-mail address on any given day after the first vote received from that person or e-mail address on that day will be void. In addition, only five (5) votes per day may be submitted by the same IP address each day. Subsequent votes received from same IP address on any given day after the first five (5) entries received from that IP address on that day are void. Voters may not use any script, online sweepstakes service, macro, or other automated means to submit any votes. Entrants are prohibited from obtaining votes by any fraudulent or inappropriate means, including, without limitation, offering prizes or other inducements to members of the public, as determined by Sponsor in its sole discretion. All votes must be received by 11:59:59 P.M. PT to be eligible for that day’s tally. We reserve the right to void any votes that we, in our sole discretion, determine to be fraudulently or inappropriately submitted, or submitted in violation of any of the stated limits mentioned above.

Winner Determination: Contest winners will be determined based on the daily, weekly, and overall tally of community voting by visitors to the Contest Web Site (as detailed below).

Daily Prize winners: For the Daily Prize winners, votes for each entry will be tabulated for each Daily Entry Period. Each day, the vote count for each entry will be reset to zero (0) (although the number of votes received each day will be used to determine Weekly and Grand Prize winners). Subject to verification of eligibility and full compliance with these Official Rules, the thirty-five (35) entrants that receive the highest number of valid votes for the applicable Daily Entry Period, as determined by Sponsor, will be deemed the potential Daily Prize winners for that Daily Entry Period.

Weekly Prize winners: For the Weekly Prize winners, votes for each entry will be tabulated between 12:00:01 A.M. PT on each Saturday until 11:59:59 P.M. PT on the following Friday night (with the exception of the first week, as noted earlier), for each applicable Weekly Entry Period. Subject to verification of eligibility and full compliance with these Official Rules, the five (5) entrants that receive the highest number of valid votes for the applicable Weekly Entry Period, as determined by Sponsor, will be deemed the potential Weekly Prize winners for that week.

Grand Prize winners: For the Grand Prize winner in each of the three Categories, all votes received by each entry during the entire Entry Period for the applicable Category will be tabulated separately to determine the potential Grand Prize winner for that Category (for a total of three (3) Grand Prize winners). Subject to verification of eligibility and full compliance with these Official Rules, the one (1) entrant that receives the highest number of valid votes in its Category for the entire Entry Period, as determined by Sponsor, will be deemed the potential Grand Prize winner for that Category.

Prize Limits: Limit one (1) Daily and one (1) Weekly Prize and one (1) Grand Prize per person, per e-mail address, per Windows Live Spaces account, and per household for the entire Contest. Daily Prize winners and Weekly Prize winners are eligible to win one of the Grand Prizes. In the event that you have an entry in more than one Category which has received the highest number of votes for the entire Entry Period, you will only be eligible to win one (1) Grand Prize and the remaining Grand Prize(s) will be awarded to the person whose entry received the second highest number of overall votes, at Sponsor’s sole discretion.

If you have already won a Daily or Weekly Prize and your entry receives the highest number of votes in any subsequent days or weeks, the next highest scoring entrant will be named the potential Daily or Weekly Prize winner for the applicable day and/or week, assuming they have not previously won that prize, as determined by Sponsor and subject to verification of eligibility and compliance with these Official Rules. In the event of a tie between any eligible entries for any prize level, the tie will be broken by a panel of judges from the Windows Live Spaces team, who will judge the entries that are tied based solely on the following criteria:

50% Originality

50% Creativity

The entry that receives the highest score, as determined by the judges in their sole discretion, will be declared the potential winner for the applicable prize level and/or Category. If a winner is an eligible minor, Sponsor reserves the right, in its sole discretion, to award the prize in the name of his or her parent or legal guardian, who will be responsible for fulfilling all requirements imposed on winners set forth herein.

Sponsor reserves the right to award fewer than the stated number of prizes for any prize level and/or Entry Period if, in its sole discretion, it does not receive a sufficient number of eligible and qualified entries.

7) IMPORTANT INFORMATION ABOUT YOUR ENTRY:

By uploading your photograph to Windows Live Spaces and submitting an entry, you (and, if you are an eligible minor, your parent or legal guardian):

Agree that your entry conforms to these Official Rules as well as the Windows Live Spaces Service Agreement and that Sponsor, in its sole discretion, may disqualify or remove your entry for any reason, including if it determines, in its sole discretion, that your entry fails to conform to the Official Rules in any way or otherwise contains unacceptable content as determined by Sponsor, in its sole discretion;
Waive any claim of infringement (including without limitation copyright, trademark, patent, trade name, trade secret, etc.) against the Released Parties based upon their use of your entry.

In the event of any dispute regarding whether you submitted a particular entry, entry will be deemed made by the authorized account holder of the e-mail address submitted at the time of entry, and such person will be required to abide by these Official Rules. "Authorized account holder" means the natural person who was assigned an e-mail address by an Internet access provider, service provider, or other online organization that is responsible for assigning e-mail addresses for the domain associated with the submitted e-mail address. You may be required to provide us with proof (in a satisfactory form) that you are the authorized account holder of the e-mail address associated with the entry in question. When you submit your entry, it becomes our property and it will not be returned.

By submitting your entry, you (and, if you are an eligible minor, your parent or legal guardian):

Grant Sponsor and its designees an irrevocable royalty-free, perpetual, fully paid up worldwide right and license, in any and all media (now known or later developed) to: (i) use, review, assess, test, and otherwise analyze your entry and all its content in connection with this Contest; and (ii) feature your entry and all its content in connection with the promotion of this Contest and Microsoft products and services; (iii) exploit the entry (and all rights therein) in any manner throughout the world without restriction; and (iv) grant and assign unlimited right, title, and interest in and to your entry, including, without limitation, all rights of every kind and nature (whether now known or hereafter devised, including all copyrights therein and thereto and all renewals and extensions thereof); and
Forever release the Released Parties from any and all claims you might have in connection with the use of your entry; and
Agree to sign any necessary documentation that may be required for us and our designees to make use of the rights you granted above; and
Understand and acknowledge that the Released Parties may obtain many entries under this Contest and that such entries may be similar or identical in theme, idea, or other respects to others submitted under this Contest and/or other Contests staged or sponsored by Sponsor and you waive any and all claims you may have had, may have now and/or may have in the future, that any entries and/or other works accepted, reviewed and/or used by other entrants and/or Sponsor (or its designees) may be similar to your entry. By submitting an entry, you (and, if you are an eligible minor, your parent or legal guardian) hereby grant permission for the entry to be posted on Contest Web Site for viewing by visitors to the Contest Web Site and otherwise used as set forth herein. Please note that following the end of this Contest your entry may be posted on publicly accessible Web sites for viewing by visitors to that Web site. The Released Parties are not responsible for any unauthorized use of your entry by third parties. While we reserve these rights, we are not obligated to use your entry for any purpose, even if it has been selected as a winning entry. If you do not want to grant us these rights to your entry, please do not enter this Contest. Released Parties do not guarantee the posting of any entry. Entries may not be posted or screened on another Web site before winners are announced, including any online social networks, without the express consent of Sponsor in each instance.

8) WINNER NOTIFICATION:

If you are determined to be a potential winner,

You will notified via a message sent to your Windows Live Space, as determined by Sponsor; and
You may be required to sign and return an Affidavit of Eligibility/Liability/Publicity release, unless prohibited by law, within ten (10) days of date of prize notification.

If you are a potential winner and you (i) do not reply to such prize notification or any prize notification is undeliverable, (ii) do not return the Affidavit of Eligibility/Liability/Publicity release completed and signed within ten (10) days of date of prize notification, or if you (iii) are not otherwise in compliance with these Official Rules, you will be disqualified and, we may, at our discretion, notify a runner-up.

If you are a winner and accept the prize, you (and, if you are an eligible minor, your parent or legal guardian) agree that we and our designees shall have the right to use your name, city and state of residence, voice, likeness, and/or photograph for advertising and promotion purposes, in any and all media now or hereafter known worldwide in perpetuity, without additional compensation, notification, or permission, unless prohibited by law.

9) PRIZES:

(35) Daily prizes: A Canon Pixma Mini 320 photo printer. (Approximate Retail Value (“ARV”) = U.S.$179).

(5) Weekly prizes: A Canon SD1100 Camera and MP610 Printer. (Combined ARV = U.S.$529.98).

(3) Grand prizes (one per Category):

A: The winner of the Connecting Category will win a Sony VAIO® TZ Series Notebook PC (ARV = U.S.$2,199.99).

B: The winner of the Sharing Category will win a Canon Vixia HV30 camcorder (ARV = U.S.$999).

C: The winner of the Fun Category will win a three-day/two-night trip for four (4) people to a major metropolitan U.S. city consisting of round-trip coach air transportation from the major airport nearest winner’s residence in the United States, two standard room hotel accommodations (standard, double occupancy), ground transportation between the airport and applicable hotel, U.S.$1,000 spending cash awarded as a check payable to the winner only, and a professional sitting with a Canon Explorers of Light photographer. The photography sitting will take place at a photo studio for up to four hours and will consist of a variety of different poses for the family portraits. Printed photo package will be provided to the family 2–4 weeks after the photo session and includes (4) 8 × 10 inch photos, (4) 5 × 7 inch photos and (5) 4 × 6 inch photos. An agreement will need to be made with the photographer if the family desires more portrait time with the photographer. The photography session (ARV = U.S.$6,500) will vary depending upon winner’s address and the prize destination. The exact destination city will be chosen by Sponsor. If an eligible minor is selected as the Grand Prize winner of this prize package, prize will be awarded in the name of said minor’s parent or legal guardian and parent or legal guardian will be required to be accompanied by said minor on Grand Prize trip. Expenses not specifically stated herein are winner’s sole responsibility. Additionally, insurance and all applicable federal, state, and local taxes, if any, are the sole responsibility of winner. Winner and guests must travel together on same itinerary. Travel, hotel restrictions, and blackout dates may apply. Specifics of Grand Prize package (including details surrounding photography session) are subject to availability and Sponsor’s sole discretion. Trip must be taken within three (3) months following the end of the Contest on dates and times designated by Sponsor or prize will be forfeited in its entirety and may be awarded to an alternate winner. Any minor traveling companion must be accompanied by a parent or legal guardian.

If you are a winner:

You may not exchange your prize for cash or substitute prize for other merchandise; and
You may not transfer your prize to someone else. If you do not wish to or cannot accept the prize, it will be forfeited and we may, at our discretion, award it to a runner-up. We reserve the right to substitute a prize with one of comparable or greater value, at our sole discretion; and
You (and, if you are an eligible minor, your parent or legal guardian) are responsible for all federal, state, and local taxes (including income and withholding taxes) as well as any other costs and expenses associated with accepting and/or using the prize that are not specified herein as being part of the prize award; and
You understand you are accepting your prize “as is” with no warranty or guarantee, either express or implied by us; and
You understand that all prize details shall be determined solely by us.

10) LIMITATIONS OF LIABILITY:

The Released Parties are not responsible for any liability, loss, cost, damage, or injury incurred by entrants or any other persons arising out of or in connection with the Contest, including, without limitation, the following:

Lost, late, incomplete, inaccurate, stolen, fraudulent, misdirected, undelivered, interrupted, damaged, delayed, or garbled entries, photos, or votes, entries or photos that are uploaded incorrectly or any combination thereof; or for entries that are uploaded or transmitted late or incorrectly or are lost or misdirected for any reason including through computer, hardware or software, telephone, paper transfer, cable, satellite, network, Internet Service Provider (ISP), human, or other error; or for electronic, computer, or telephone malfunction or error, including inability to access any Web site associated with the Contest; or
For any technical, computer, network, printing, typographical, human, or other errors relating to or in connection with this Contest, including, without limitation, errors or problems which may occur in connection with the administration of the Contest, the processing or judging of entries, the tabulation of votes, the announcement of the prizes, or in any Contest-related materials; or
Any incorrect or inaccurate information or error or defect of any kind regardless of who it is caused by, or the means by which it occurred; or
Equipment, software, network, or systems that fail, have viruses or other problems, are breached, or that cause injury or damage to participants or their property.

By entering this Contest, you (and, if you are an eligible minor, your parent or legal guardian) agree to, and hereby release and hold the Released Parties harmless from any and all liability for any injuries, loss, or damage of any kind to persons, including death or property damages, arising in whole or in part, directly or indirectly from or in connection with your participation in this Contest or the acceptance, possession, and use or misuse of any prize (or any travel related thereto) including, without limitation, any liability, losses, or damages arising from your violation of the privacy or publicity rights of any other person or entity.

11) GENERAL CONDITIONS:

This Contest is governed by Washington law. You (and, if you are an eligible minor, your parent or legal guardian) agree that the jurisdiction and venue for the handling of any disputes or actions arising out of this Contest shall be in the courts of the State of Washington without giving effect to any choice of law or conflict law rules (whether of the State of Washington or any other jurisdiction) which would cause the application of laws of any jurisdiction other than the State of Washington.

If, for any reason, the Contest is not capable of running as planned for any reason, including, without limitation, the reasons set forth above, we reserve the right at our sole discretion to cancel, terminate, modify or suspend the Contest (or portion thereof). If Contest (or portion thereof) is cancelled or terminated, we may, at our sole discretion, determine the winners of this Contest for the Entry Period(s) at issue using all non-suspect, eligible votes and/or entries received up to time of cancellation or termination for the applicable Entry Period(s).

We may disqualify you from participating in the Contest or winning a prize (and void your participation in the other promotions we may offer) if, in our sole discretion, we determine you are attempting to undermine the legitimate operation of the Contest by cheating, deception, or other unfair playing practices, or intending to annoy, abuse, threaten, or harass us, any other entrant, or our representatives or if you are otherwise not in compliance with the terms of these Official Rules. CAUTION: ANY ATTEMPT BY YOU OR ANY OTHER INDIVIDUAL 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, WE RESERVE THE RIGHT TO SEEK DAMAGES AND OTHER REMEDIES FROM YOU (INCLUDING ATTORNEYS’ FEES) TO THE FULLEST EXTENT PERMISSABLE BY LAW.

12) WINNERS LIST:

Winners will be posted on the Contest Web Site between May 23, 2008 and June 24, 2008.

13) SPONSOR:

This Contest is sponsored by Microsoft Corporation, One Microsoft Way, Redmond, Washington 98052.