IREX Make a Better World Photo Contest Official Rules

Official Contest Rules

Theme
The contest seeks photographs of individuals and scenes representing the IREX tagline “Make a Better World” around the world in one or more of IREX’s categories, as explained on the main photocontest page [1].

Organizer
IREX | 1275 K Street, NW, Suite 600, Washington DC, 20005, USA | T +1 202 628 8188

Term
IREX Make a Better World Photo Contest begins June 3, 2013 at 8:00am Eastern Daylight Time (EDT) and ends July 1, 2013 at 11:00pm. All digital entries must be received via IREX’s website by July 1, 2013 at 11:00pm. Winners will be announced by July 31, 2013. Winning photographers will be contacted by email.

By submitting a contest entry, each entrant agrees to these Official Contest Rules (“Official Rules”) and warrants that his or her entry complies with all requirements set out in the Official Rules. Winning a prize is contingent upon fulfilling all requirements set forth herein in a timely manner. Please read these Official Rules carefully before submitting your photograph(s). This is a skill-based contest and chance plays no part in the determination of winners.

NO PURCHASE NECESSARY TO ENTER OR WIN CONTEST.

Prizes
There are a total of five prize categories. One winner and up to five honorable mentions will be selected for each category. Selected finalists from each contestant category may at the Organizer's discretion receive additional noncash prizes with a total approximate retail value of $15 (USD). All winners and their photo entries will be featured on IREX’s website, social media, and email newsletter. By submitting an entry, each Contestant specifically agrees to this condition.

The odds of winning depend on number of eligible entries received. Winners will be responsible for reporting any winnings to authorities as required by law and paying any taxes they may owe on any prize received. No prize transfer, assignment or substitution by winners is permitted.

Who may enter
Entry is open to professional and amateur photographers of all levels who are at least eighteen (18) years of age at the time of entry, regardless of residence or citizenship, provided the laws of the applicable jurisdiction permit participation. Current IREX directors, officers, employees, contractors and volunteers, and members of their immediate families, are not eligible to participate.

PARTICIPATION IN THIS CONTEST IS VOID WHERE PROHIBITED.

Contest Entries
Photographs submitted for consideration must be in digital format. Using the online entry form [2] on our website (complete a separate form for each photo submitted), submit digital photographs at the highest resolution possible in a .jpg or .png format. Files submitted may not be larger than 10 megabytes. Finalists may be asked to submit a high-resolution file or an original file. Printed photographs will not be accepted. Original photographs will not be returned to contestants.

Photographs must have been shot by the Contest entrant and be contemporary or timeless, ideally within the last two years. Each online entry must also include, as requested on the form, a brief description explaining how that image is representative of the contest theme.

Cropped photos are eligible in all categories, but you may not submit photos that have been digitally or otherwise enhanced or altered. Minor adjustments, including spotting, dodging and burning, contrast and slight color adjustment or the digital equivalents, are acceptable.

An entrant must hold, and affirm that entrant holds, all rights to the photograph(s) submitted; those that violate or infringe upon another person's copyright or license are not eligible.

Entrant affirms that he/she has received verbal consent from all subjects depicted in the photograph, or from their legal guardian(s) if the subject(s) are less than eighteen years old, and that entrant has no reason to believe the subject(s) would object to the entry of the photograph in the Contest nor to IREX's use of the photograph as described in the Official Rules.

Entries are prohibited that include any content that is defamatory, obscene or otherwise inappropriate, in Organizer’s sole judgment.

How to enter
Submit no more than (5) photographs per person. Organizer will not accept more than one entry contestant per email address. Organizer reserves the right to disqualify any contestant or entry that violates the Official Rules or tampers with or abuses any aspect of this Contest as solely determined by Organizer. Incomplete or late entries will be disqualified.

Judging
The panel of experts selected by Organizer will collectively select winners in the Grand Prize and Best of Category categories over two (2) rounds of evaluation. Qualified photos are defined as those completely complying with the Official Rules. The judges will select the winners based on the following judging criteria: (1) Relevance to theme 50%; (2) Photographic quality 25%; (3) Creativity 25%. In the event of a tie, the tied entries will be re-submitted to the judges for a re-judging on the same criteria between the tied entries alone.

Judging Criteria
Grand Prize and Best in Categories:
(50%) Relevance to IREX's Contest Categories [1]
Does the image and caption prove that the subjects are making a better world? Does it reflect the lives and locations [3] of our work [4]?

(25%) Technical quality of Image
Does the photo present its subjects and ideas clearly? Did techniques such as flash, shutter speed, and aperture improve the photo? Was time and thought given for the composition of the photo?

(25%) Creative and Compelling Storytelling
In the estimation of the judge, would the photo evoke a response from a typical viewer? Would a typical viewer empathize with the subjects?

People’s Choice: The judges will collectively choose 7-10 photos to be posted on IREX’s online networks for the audience to help choose the winner.

Entrants may only win one prize each. All winners will be notified by email. Winners will be announced by July 31, 2013. Decisions of the judges are final and binding. Please do not contact us about the status of entries.

During the selection process, the judges will see only the title, description and country where each photo was taken. No personally identifiable information such as photographers' names or email addresses will be visible to the judges.

Panel of Judges
Judges will collectively determine the winners for the Grand Prize and Best of Category categories. Judges include professional photographers and international development experts.

License
By entering the Contest, all entrants grant IREX a royalty-free, irrevocable, perpetual, worldwide non-exclusive license to use, reproduce, distribute, display and create derivative works of the entries (with or without a name credit), in whole or in part, for any educational, promotional, publicity, archival, exhibition or other non-commercial purpose, in connection with the Contest and promotion of the Contest or otherwise, in any media now or hereafter known, including, but not limited to: Display at a potential exhibition of winners; print publication of reports and brochures featuring select entries in the Contest. The Organizer will not be required to pay any additional consideration or seek any additional approval in connection with authorized uses. Entrants consent to the Organizer doing or omitting to do any act that would otherwise infringe the entrant’s “moral rights” in their entries. Display or publication of any entry on the Organizer’s website does not indicate the entrant will be selected as a winner. Additionally, by entering, each entrant grants to The Organizer the unrestricted right, without any additional approval or consideration, to use the entrant’s name and/or any statements made in submissions to, or otherwise in connection with, the Contest, and pictures or likenesses of Contest entrants for any purpose, or to choose not to do so, at Organizer’s sole discretion.

Subject to any license provided for under these Official Rules, entrant will retain copyright to all photographs submitted. Entrants may continue to use photographs submitted to the Contest for any commercial or non-commercial purposes permitted by law and in compliance with these Official Rules.

Limitation of Liability
By entering this Contest, all entrants agree to release, discharge, and hold harmless IREX and its partners, affiliates, parents, subsidiaries, agents and all of their employees, officers, directors, agents and representatives from any and all claims, losses, and damages arising out of their participation in this Contest or any Contest-related activities and the acceptance and use, misuse, or possession of any prize awarded hereunder.

IREX assumes no responsibility for any error, omission, interruption, deletion, defect, or delay in operation or transmission; communications line failure; theft or destruction of or unauthorized access to Contest entries or entry forms; or alteration of entries or entry forms. IREX is not responsible for any problems with or technical malfunction of any telephone network or lines, computer online systems, servers or providers, computer equipment, software, failure of any email entry to be received on account of technical problems or traffic congestion on the Internet or at any website, human errors of any kind, or any combination thereof, including any injury or damage to entrants' or any other persons' computers related to or resulting from participation, uploading or downloading of any materials related to in this Contest.

Disputes
Entrants agree that this Contest shall be subject to and governed by the laws of the District of Columbia, and the forum for any dispute shall be in the District of Columbia, United States of America. To the extent permitted by law, the right to litigate, to seek injunctive relief or to make any other recourse to judicial or any other procedure in case of disputes or claims resulting from or on connection with this Contest are hereby excluded and any entrant expressly waives any and all such rights.

Conditions
Entry in the Contest does not transfer ownership of the rights in the images submitted, but constitutes the grant of the license to Organizer as provided herein. All entrants must confirm their ownership of the photograph(s), that entrant holds all rights to the intellectual property, that they are over 18 years of age, and that they fully understand and agree to the Official Rules.
IREX reserves the right to verify the validity and originality of any entry and/or entrant (including an entrant's identity and address) and to disqualify any entrant who submits an entry that is not in accordance with these Official Rules, or who tampers with the entry process. Entries also will be void if IREX determines the photograph(s) not to be original, or if the entries are illegible, incomplete, damaged, irregular, altered, counterfeit, produced in error or obtained through fraud or theft.
Failure by IREX to enforce any of its rights at any stage does not constitute a waiver of those rights. IREX reserves the right to suspend or cancel the Contest or modify these rules at its discretion.

In the event that the selected winner(s) of any prize is/are ineligible under the Official Rules, cannot be traced or does/do not respond within five (5) days to a winner notification, or refuses the prize, the prize will be forfeited and IREX, in its sole discretion, may choose whether to award the prize to another entrant.

Right to extend, cancel or suspend contest
IREX reserves the right, at its sole discretion, to extend the length of the contest period.
If for any reason, in IREX’s sole opinion, the Contest is not capable of running as planned, due to infection by computer virus, bugs, worms, trojan horses, denial of service attacks, tampering, unauthorized intervention, fraud, technical failures, or any other causes beyond the control of IREX that corrupt or affect the administration, security, fairness, integrity, or proper conduct of this Contest, IREX reserves the right, at its sole discretion, to disqualify any individual(s) who tampers with the entry process, and/or to cancel, terminate, modify, or suspend the Contest or limit entries to those submitted prior to such action. If Organizer elects to cancel or terminate the Contest, Organizer will not retain any rights in the submitted photographs.