Contest Rules, Disclaimer, & Terms of Use

CONTEST RULES

CONTEST ENTRY: To enter, follow directions as outlined on the website: https://www.almontereadersandwriters.org/lanark-lit-writing-competition

CONTEST DATES: Contest start date is April 30, 2024, at 12:01 a.m. and the end date is September 30, 2024, at 11:59 p.m.

WHO MAY ENTER: Contest is restricted to applicants who reside within the geographic area outlined at https://www.almontereadersandwriters.org/lanark-lit-writing-competition

Entrants are subject to all notices about the program as posted online. Contestants may need to provide proof of address upon request.

CONTEST OBJECTIVE: The objective of the Contest is to award a prize to one winning entry per age category, as determined by a jury, as selected by the Almonte Readers & Writers (ARW) Board of Directors.

CONTEST ENTRY CONDITIONS: Entrants must submit work that abides by our Contest Rules:

  • All entries must be received before the end date/time posted above, and outlined on the website.

  • Entrants must submit Work that abides by our Submission Guidelines (as outlined on the website).

  • Entry must be the original work of the applicant, may not have been previously published, may not have won previous awards, must not infringe upon the copyrights, trademarks, rights of privacy, publicity or other intellectual property or other rights of any person and must not violate any law, and must not contain materials considered defamatory or obscene, and violate laws relating to hate speech or otherwise promotes racist, sexist, homophobic, or transphobic views. ARW reserves the right to exclude any Work on the basis of concerns relating to the rights and laws outlined herein, and/or the rights of third parties, including but not limited to privacy, copyright, defamation, rights of personality, obscenity or hate speech, as determined by ARW in its sole discretion.

JUDGING: All Entries will be judged blind/anonymous, and assessment will be based on the subjective determination of merit. The top Entry per category will be declared the Contest Winner(s).

Winner(s) will be announced on the ARW website, and via press release.

 

DISCLAIMER

DISQUALIFICATION: ARW reserves the right to disqualify any Entry for any reason, in its sole and absolute discretion. At the discretion of ARW, a Winner may also be disqualified for any reason including non-compliance with the Contest Rules, Entry Conditions, and/or Eligibility. In the event of disqualification of the Winner, at ARW’s sole discretion, the Entry with the next highest score/evaluation of merit by the jury may then be declared the alternate Winner in any category.

TIES/IMPASSE: In event of a tie, or inability of the jury to come to a decision by an agreed upon date, the Winner will be determined at the discretion of ARW.

PRIZE: ARW has a total of $600.00 available in prizes, intended to be awarded as three $200.00 prizes, to one winner in each of the three categories. However, to be determined based on the number of entries and results of the jury deliberations, ARW reserves the right to augment the prize amount at its sole discretion to an amount higher than posted.

WINNER NOTIFICATION AND REQUIREMENTS OF ACCEPTANCE: Winner(s) will be determined after the Contest’s end date and will be notified by email. Winner(s) are required to attend an awards event, at a date to be determined by ARW, and will be expected to read (or arrange a reading of) their Winning Entry/a segment of their Winning Entry.

Entrants acknowledge that ARW reserves the right to reschedule, modify, or cancel the award event, as well as any public presentation of the Winning submission. In the event of any changes to the awards event and public presentation plans, ARW will deliver the Prize(s) to the Winner(s) at its earliest possible convenience.

TERMS OF USE

GENERAL CONDITIONS: By submitting to this Contest, Entrants understand that Winning constitutes permission (except where prohibited by law) to use the Winner’s name, geographic location, biography, prize details, and image/portrait (all at ARW’s discretion) in the public promotion of the award event, as well as in future advertising of the Contest Program and of ARW publicity and in documentation/archives, in any and all media, now or hereafter in perpetuity, without compensation, notification, or seeking additional permission.

COPYRIGHT: By submitting their Work to this Contest, the Entrant is not releasing copyright of the Work to ARW, and the Entrant retains all right, title, and interest (including copyright) in and to the submitted Work, and may use their work in any way they choose, including allowing others to use it, publish it, circulate it, etc..

RIGHTS AND DUTIES/LIABILITY:  By submitting to this Contest, the Entrant is agreeing, in the event they are determined to be a Contest Winner, that ARW has the right to publicly circulate their Entry and name as Contest Winner in a manner limited to connection with the administration and promotion of the Contest and of ARW only— therefore the Entrant hereby grants to ARW the right to reproduce, display, and transmit, the Entry in whole and not altered alongside their name as Contest Winner, for use in all media now known or hereafter devised in perpetuity, beginning on the date of entry, according to terms outlined above.

Additional opportunities to publicly circulate the Entry as the Contest Winner by a third-party, arising in direct connection to the Contest/ARW, will be determined in good faith and negotiated separately from these Terms outlined herein—Terms for any such circulation involving a third-party must be negotiated and agreed upon by all parties: the Entrant, ARW, and/or the relevant third-party.

ARW requests, in good faith, that the Entrant delays acting on their right to use/publish/circulate their Entry until the conclusion of the Contest/the public announcement of Contest Winners — where an Entrant does not comply ARW reserves the right to disqualify the Entry from consideration, at its sole discretion.

The Entrant acknowledges that ARW may receive submissions to this Contest that may be similar or identical in theme, idea, format, or other respects to their Entry submitted to this Contest and/or other contests sponsored by the ARW. Therefore, the Entrant understands that ARW does not have now, nor shall it have in the future, any duty or liability, direct or indirect, vicarious, contributory, or otherwise, to protect any copyright in and of a Entrant’s submission.

RELEASES: By submitting to this Contest, the Entrant understands that ARW will share their submission with the Contest jury—according to terms outlined above. In the event the Entrant’s submission is determined to be a Contest Winner, the Entrant agrees to ARW’s conditional public release of both their personal information (name, image/portrait, biography) and of their submission—according to terms outlined above.

PRIVACY: ARW agrees to protect the privacy of all Contest Entrants, and will not share Entrants personal information (names and contact details) with any third party.