WildView™

Wildlife Conservation Society Wild View™ Spots and Stripes, 2024 Official Rules

The WILD VIEW™  SPOTS AND STRIPES PHOTO CONTEST (the “Contest”) starts at 12:00:01 EDT on June 12, 2024. Entries are due by 11:59:59 EDT on September 15, 2024. The winner will be announced on or around October 5, 2024. The sponsor of this Contest is the Wildlife Conservation Society (“Sponsor”), with a principal place of business at 2300 Southern Boulevard, Bronx, New York 10460. The Contest shall be subject to these Official Rules, and by entering, all participants agree to be bound by the terms and conditions herein. Certain restrictions may apply.

ELIGIBILITY: This Contest is open only to legal residents of the fifty United States (not including territories and possessions) and the District of Columbia who are 18 years of age or older as of the date the Contest begins. The officers, trustees, employees and agents of Sponsor and its affiliates, and the immediate family members and those living in the same household of the foregoing, are not eligible to participate in the Contest or win prizes, but may submit photos in response to the Wild View™ assignment which may be selected for posting on the blog. No purchase is necessary to enter the Contest. All federal, state and local rules and regulations apply. Void where prohibited by law.

HOW TO ENTER:

Entrant must:

(1)  Use the link, follow the instructions, upload your photo and text (e.g., story content), and fill out the Contest entry form at https://blog.wcs.org/photo/assignments/spots-and-stripes-wildlife-photo-contest/. Photo must be at least 2000 px wide at 72 dpi. Please include photographer’s name, subject matter, and date in the file name.

(2)  If your photo includes a recognizable person or people other than yourself, you must secure permission from each person to use his/her image and likeness in your Contest entry, and present evidence of such permission to the Sponsor if requested. Do not submit a photo containing an image or images of a minor (children under 18 years of age).

(3)  Do not submit images that have been digitally enhanced, altered or manipulated such that they are no longer an authentic and accurate representation of the subject matter and/or location of the image.

(4)  Entries must be made by the owner of the photograph. Entries made by any other individual or any entity, and/or originating at any other web site or email address, including but not limited to commercial Contest subscription notification and/or entering service sites, will be declared invalid and disqualified for this Contest. The use of any device or program to automate the entry process is prohibited.

(5)  You grant Sponsor the non-exclusive right to publish, use, distribute, reproduce and publicly display your photograph and text, and to create derivative works from your photograph and text, in perpetuity, in any of its on-line, print or other media publications, channels, materials or exhibitions (including but not limited to the Wild View™ blog website, or Sponsor’s Facebook, Twitter or Instagram accounts), for purposes of promoting the Content and/or Sponsor’s mission and awareness of its programs, including but not limited to editorial, advertising, publicity, and fundraising purposes, without payment of compensation unless prohibited by law. You grant Sponsor the right, but not the obligation, to provide your name, and your city and state of residence, when publishing, reproducing or otherwise using your photo and when identifying you as an entrant or prize winner in the Contest. Subject to the rights granted to Sponsor, you retain all other copyrights and rights to future use of the photographs you enter into the Contest. While Sponsor will make every effort to credit you by name when it uses your photo, with a copyright notice in the form specified in the Contest entry form, you acknowledge that there may be circumstances where it is not possible for Sponsor to do so.

(6)  By entering, you represent and warrant that the photograph and accompanying text that you submit are original and are solely your own work, and that no part of the photograph or text will infringe or violate any copyright, trade secret, trademark, patent, invention, or other proprietary or personal right of any third party. You further represent and warrant that your participation in this Contest does not violate any agreement between you and a third party.

(7)  Sponsor reserves the right to disqualify you if, among other reasons, you breach the warranties you are required to make, or your entry is lost, late, misdirected, incorrect, incomplete, garbled or incompletely received, for any reason whatsoever, including by reason of hardware, software, browser, mobile device or network failure, malfunction, congestion or incompatibility with Sponsor’s servers. False, fraudulent or deceptive entries or acts shall render entrants ineligible.

(8)  No other method of entry will be accepted. No mechanically reproduced entries will be accepted. Sponsor will not accept photographs submitted through the mail or through Sponsor’s website. Sponsor reserves the right to modify the deadline for submissions due to circumstances beyond its control. There is a limit of six entries per person. 

PRIZE WINNER SELECTION CRITERIA:

After the close of the entry period, eligible photographs will be evaluated and a finalist will be selected by a panel of judges from the WCS Digital Department based on visual appeal, composition, and originality. The selected finalist will be posted on some of the Sponsor’s digital accounts as soon as possible after the close of the entry period. The decisions of the Contest judges, and the results of the public vote, are final and binding.

WINNER NOTIFICATION:

Winner will be notified via email at the address provided on the on-line entry form and asked to confirm and verify his/her identity via email to Sponsor. Sponsor is not responsible for changes to an entrant’s email address after the entrant enters the Contest.

The first place prize winner will be required to execute and return an Affidavit of Eligibility/Release of Liability/Publicity Release and completed IRS W-9 form within five (5) days of notification. The Affidavit will include a statement by the winner that he/she has secured the permission of each recognizable person in the winning photo to use that person’s image and likeness in the Contest and for all purposes described in the Contest rules. Winner will be disqualified and an alternate winner will be selected if a selected winner fails to comply with these rules, cannot be contacted, is deemed ineligible, fails to reply to the winner notification as requested, fails to return the completed and executed Affidavit/Releases in the stated time period as required, or fails to claim the prize. Acceptance of a prize constitutes permission to use the winner’s name, likeness and winning entry for promotional and publicity purposes without additional compensation or limitation unless prohibited by law. All decisions of the Sponsor regarding the selection of winners, notification and substitution of winners in accordance with these Official Rules shall be binding and final.

Sponsor shall have the right, but not the obligation, to display the winning photograph on Sponsor’s digital accounts including Wild View™, Facebook, Twitter and Instagram, social media channels, in print publications and broadcast news outlets, at the Bronx Zoo or other facilities operated by Sponsor, on-line or in other locations.

PRIZE:

The first prize winner will receive a Patagonia Black Hole Pack 25L. Approximate retail value of the prize is $149. At Sponsor’s sole discretion, a prize of equal or greater value may be substituted for any reason. Winner may not make prize substitutions. Prize is not transferable or redeemable for cash.

All applicable federal, state and local taxes, fees and surcharges prizes, if any, are the sole responsibility of the prize winner.

LIMITATION OF LIABILITY:  Sponsor shall not be liable to the winner or any other persons for failure to supply the prize or any part thereof, by reason of any acts of God, any action(s), regulation(s), order(s) or request(s) by any governmental or quasi-governmental entity (whether or not the action(s), regulations(s), order(s) or request(s) prove(s) to be invalid), equipment failure, terrorist acts, earthquake, war, fire, flood, explosion, unusually severe weather, hurricane, epidemic or pandemic, embargo, labor dispute or strike (whether legal or illegal), labor or material shortage, transportation interruption of any kind, work slow-down, civil disturbance, insurrection, riot or any other cause beyond Sponsor’s reasonable control. 

Sponsor is not responsible or liable to entrants or any other persons for any incorrect or inaccurate entry information; human errors; technical malfunctions; failures, omissions, interruptions, deletions or defects of any telephone, broadband, wireless or other network, computer online system, computer equipment, server, provider, mobile device or software, including without limitation any injury or damage to participant’s or any other person’s computer or mobile device relating to or resulting from participation in the Contest; theft, tampering, destruction, or alteration of, or unauthorized access to, entries; data that is processed late or incorrectly or that is incomplete or lost due to computer or electronic malfunction or traffic congestion on transmission lines or the Internet or for any other reason whatsoever; typographical, printing or other errors; or any combination thereof. 

GENERAL:   Entrants release and waive any claims they may have against Sponsor and its affiliates, and their respective trustees, officers, employees and agents, for any and all injuries, claims, damages, losses, costs, or expenses of any kind (including without limitation attorney’s fees) resulting from acceptance, use, or misuse of the prize; participation in this Contest; or any technical malfunctions of the telephone network and/or transmission line, computer on-line system, computer, mobile device or transmission device or its dating mechanism, equipment, hardware, software, or any combination thereof, or any entries that are late (including delayed data transmissions), tampered with, garbled, incomplete, misdirected, lost, mutilated, delayed, corrupted, mechanically duplicated, illegible or otherwise not in compliance with these Official Rules.  By entering the Contest, entrants affirm that they have read and accepted these Official Rules.  Entrants agree to defend, indemnify and hold harmless Sponsor and its trustees, officer, employees and agents, against any and all claims arising out of Sponsor’s use of the entrants photograph and/or text, and if the photo includes a recognizable person or people, claims arising out of Sponsor’s use of the person’s likeness in Sponsor’s digital accounts including Wild View™, Facebook, Twitter and Instagram, social media channels, in print publications and broadcast news outlets.  The Contest shall be governed by and construed in accordance with the laws of the State of New York.  By entering the Contest, entrants hereby submit to the jurisdiction and venue of the federal and state courts of New York and waive the right to have disputes arising out of the subject matter hereof adjudicated in any other forum. 

If for any reason it is not possible to operate this Contest as planned, or if this Contest email or website associated therewith (or any portion thereof) becomes corrupted or does not allow the proper playing of the Contest and processing of entries in accordance with these rules, or if infection by computer virus, bugs, tampering, unauthorized intervention, actions by entrants, fraud, technical failures, or any other causes, in the Sponsor’s sole opinion, corrupt or affect the administration, security, fairness, integrity, or proper conduct of this Contest, the Sponsor reserves the right, at its sole discretion, to disqualify any individual implicated in such action and/or to cancel, terminate, modify, or suspend this Contest or any portion thereof.

If a dispute arises about who submitted an entry, the entry will be deemed submitted by the authorized account holder who posted the photograph via email. The authorized account holder is deemed the natural person who is assigned to an email address by an Internet access provider, service provider, or other online organization with such responsibility.  A potential winner may be requested to provide the Sponsor with proof that the potential winner is the authorized account holder of the email address associated with the winning entry and that all eligibility requirements are met.

Notwithstanding the foregoing, Sponsor reserves the right, in its sole discretion, to cancel or modify the Contest for any reason or no reason.

For an Official Winner List (available after October 5, 2024) or a copy of these Official Contest Rules, send an email to wcsphotoblog@gmail.com or mail a self-addressed, stamped envelope to: WILD VIEW™ PHOTO CONTEST c/o Julie Larsen, Wildlife Conservation Society 2300 Southern Blvd, Bronx NY, 10460.