Poethood Terms and Conditions

Eligibility

The Poethood.com contests include (but are not limited to) poetry, fiction, non-fiction, photography contests ("Contest"), which are open to adults of the age of 18 years or older (or of the age of majority in jurisdictions where the age of majority is over 18 years and where such Contests are legal), and resident in a non-U.S.-embargoed country where such Contests are legal given the Rules as published ("Contestants").

The Contest is sponsored by Poethood.com ("Poethood") under Cluster Press Ltd., 207 Grosvenor House, WC2B 5TB, London, United Kingdom ("Sponsor"). Sponsor's employees and their immediate families, as well as affiliates and Sponsor's associates who have participated in the administration of this promotion are not eligible to participate. The Contest is subject to these Official Rules. This Contest is void where prohibited or restricted by law, and is subject to applicable federal, state, provincial and local laws.

Submission Guidelines

Contest submissions ("Submissions") must be pieces of original writing by the submitting author. Submissions may not be previously published by any third party publisher. The Submissions must be original works of authorship, entered by the author who holds all rights to the Submission. Submissions from joint authors will not be accepted. The Contest Submission Periods are detailed on the Contest web pages (the "Contest Submission Period"). ALL ENTRIES MUST BE SUBMITTED DURING THE CONTEST SUBMISSION PERIOD. By participating, contestants agree to be bound by these Official Rules and the decisions of the judges and/or Sponsor, which are binding and final on matters relating to this Contest.

Online Entry

Submissions can be made online at www.poethood.com by following the Contests link, completing the web entry form in its entirety and paying a submission fee, as detailed on the Contest web page. We accept Paypal payments. You need to follow the instructions and link(s) on the screen to submit your entry and to make the payment, when applicable. Online Submissions must be made using the online submission process; no emailed entries will be accepted.

By entering a Submission through the web entry form at www.poethood.com, Contestant agrees that the Submission entered may be showcased in Poethood's online bookstore and other Poethood online property, making previews available to the public and making a publication containing the Submission available for purchase, as subject to Sponsor's Terms of Use, to which Contestant agrees. Posting of any Submission(s) will neither increase nor decrease a Contestant's score, and any display does not mean that a Contestant has been selected as a winner.

There is no limit to the number of Submissions that any Contestant can make; however, each Submission must be made using a separate entry form and include a separate submission fee. The submission fee for consequent Submissions may differ from the fee of the previous Submission.

No Submission will be processed unless the Submission Fee has been pre-paid electronically and the entry form is complete. Submissions that are made without the proper forms and/or payment will be disqualified and Contestants may not be notified. Sponsor retains the right to refuse any entry for any reason.

All Submissions become the sole property of Sponsor and will not be acknowledged or returned. Sponsor is not responsible for late, lost, delayed, damaged, misdirected, incomplete, void, corrupted, garbled, illegible, unintelligible, or postage-due submissions and those Submissions are void and will not be accepted; nor is Sponsor responsible for any problems, bugs or malfunctions Contestants may encounter when seeking to enter their Submissions. Only complete valid entries will be accepted.

By entering, Contestant warrants that his or her Submission does not infringe any third party's rights, and that Contestant has obtained any necessary permissions from any third party to submit the Submission. All Submissions must be original works of authorship created by the Contestant who submits the Submission and who must be a natural person. Contestants may not be, nor may Contestant use in the Submission parties who: 1) are represented under contract (e.g., by a talent agent or manager) that would limit or impair Sponsor's ability to show the Submission in any media form; 2) have an acting or modeling contract that would make their appearance in the Submission a violation of any third party rights; 3) are under a merchandising agreement; or 4) are under any other contractual relationship, including but not limited to guild and/or union memberships, that may prohibit them from participating fully in this promotion, or from allowing Sponsor to use royalty-free, the Submission worldwide in all media in perpetuity. No Submission may depict harmful or illegal activity or substance, or offensive subject matter as determined in the sole discretion of Sponsor, pursuant to its Terms of Use. No Submission shall portray Sponsor, its services or products in a negative light. Contestants may not copy or otherwise plagiarize the Submission from any source, nor may the Submission include third party copyrighted material. Sponsor reserves the right to disqualify false or plagiarized Submissions or Submissions suspected of being false or plagiarized. Contestants must hold all rights to the entire Submission and may not be under any contractual relationship that would prohibit them from entering their Submission(s), in whole or in part, into the Contest. Contestant agrees to indemnify Sponsor against any and all claims from any third party for any use by Sponsor, its agents, successors or representatives, of Contestant's Submission. Contestant must secure – and selected winners will be required to submit – a written release from any persons featured in the Submission to use their name and likeness under the terms and conditions of these official rules.

Contests

In making a Submission, Contestants must enter the Submission in a certain Contest, as detailed on the Contest web page and the Submission form. Neither Sponsor nor the Contest Judging Panel will switch a Contestant's Submission into a different category once entered. Each Submission may be entered in only one Contest. Any attempt to enter the same Submission in more than one Contest may result in disqualification. Each Submission may only be re-entered in the same Contest in a different year.

Judging

Submissions will be judged by a panel of qualified judges on the basis of; artistic merit, originality, subject matter of the Submission, form and other possible qualities which may be detailed on the Contest web page. All judging is at the complete discretion of the judging panel and all decisions of the judging panel are final. In the event of a tie, the tied Submissions will be re-evaluated based on the above-listed criteria.

For each Contest, there will be one, overall Selected Contestant for the Grand Prize selected from the total qualified Submissions received. There may be more than one winner and runner-ups, as detailed on the Contest web page.

Prizes

Prizes are detailed on the Contest web page. The Contestant will be responsible for any and all taxes and fees that they may incur as a result of being awarded a cash or retail-valued prize.

Selected Contestants not entitled to any surplus between actual retail value of prize and stated ARV and any difference between stated ARV and actual value of the prize will not be awarded. No substitution, transfer, or cash redemption of prize, provided however that Sponsor reserves the right to substitute a prize with another prize of equal or greater value should the advertised prize become unavailable for any reason. Prize may be awarded in the form of voucher(s), coupon(s) and/or gift card(s) in Sponsor's sole discretion. Selected Contestants are solely responsible for any other unspecified expenses related to the Prizes, including shipping/handling, and any and all federal, state, and local taxes on prizes. If Selected Contestant is unable to participate in or accept the prize or any portion of the prize for any reason, Sponsor shall have no further obligation to the Contestant. Any and all activities related to the prize are at the Selected Contestants' own risk and subject to whatever restrictions are imposed by the entities that govern such activities. Prizes will be awarded by U.S. mail or international carrier, in Sponsor's discretion. Sponsor is not responsible for lost or damaged prizes.

Use of Submissions

Copyright and all other rights remain those of Contestant and/or any third parties from whom Contestant has obtained permission to use the third party's material(s). Use may include publication in any Poethood publication or web site. All Contestants understand and agree that any Submission may be used by Sponsor for marketing and promotional purposes including in any media such as exhibitions, print and digital media. All winning Contestants understand that their name, likeness and winning Submission will be used for marketing and promotional purposes including in any media such as publicity, exhibitions, print and digital media.

Winners Notification

Selected Contestants will be notified by phone or email, at the Sponsor's discretion, using the information provided in the submission form.

Selected Contestants will be required to respond (as directed) to the phone and/or e-mail notification within 72 hours of attempted notification. The failure to respond timely to the notification may result in forfeiture of the prize; and, in such case, Sponsor may choose the next highest scoring Submission from among the remaining eligible submissions.

The Selected Contestants will also be sent an affidavit of eligibility / liability / publicity release ("Release"). Unless restricted by law, each Selected Contestant will be required to complete and return the Release within the time period specified therein. Should a Selected Contestant be unwilling or otherwise unable to provide such permissions and or releases or otherwise cannot accept or receive the prize for any reason, a Contestant with the next highest score will be chosen from the remaining entries until one who is able to meet all requirements can be selected as the Grand Prize Winner and for placement in each Category as described above.

Conditions; Limitation of Liability

By participating, contestants agree: to be bound by these complete Official Rules and the decisions of Sponsor which shall be final and binding; and (ii) to waive any right to claim ambiguity in the Contest or these Official Rules, except where prohibited by law. By accepting a prize, Selected Contestants agree to release Sponsor, its parent, subsidiary and affiliated entities together with the respective directors, employees, officers, licensees, licensors and agents, and respective advertising and promotion entities and any person or entity associated with the production, judging, or administration of a Contest, (collectively, the "Releasees") from any and all liability, loss or damage arising from or in connection with awarding, receipt and/or use or misuse of prize or participation in any prize-related activities. Sponsor shall not be liable for: telephone system, telephone or computer hardware, software or other technical or computer malfunctions, lost connections, disconnections, delays or transmission errors; (ii) data corruption, theft, destruction, unauthorized access to or alteration of entry or other materials; (iii) any injuries, losses or damages of any kind, including death caused by the prize or resulting from acceptance, possession or use of a prize, or from participation in a Contest; or (iv) any printing, typographical, administrative or technological errors in any materials associated with the Contest. Sponsor disclaims any liability for damage to any computer system resulting from participating in, or accessing or downloading information in connection with this Contest. Sponsor reserves the right to cancel or suspend a Contest, in its sole discretion, should it receive fewer than 100 entries, or due to circumstances beyond its control, including natural disasters. Submissions may be destroyed. Sponsor may prohibit a Contestant from participating in a Contest or winning a prize if, in its sole discretion, it determines such contestant is attempting to undermine the legitimate operation of a Contest by cheating, deception, or any other unfair playing practices of intending to annoy, abuse, threaten, undermine or harass any other players or Sponsor representatives. Disputes regarding these Official Rules and/or this Contest will be governed by the internal laws of the State of California. Sponsor reserves the right, in its sole discretion, to cancel, modify or suspend a Contest should a virus, bug, computer problem, unauthorized intervention or other causes beyond Sponsor's control, corrupt the administration, security or proper play of a Contest. Sponsor may prohibit a contestant from participating in the Contest or winning prize if, in its sole discretion, it determines such contestant is attempting to undermine the legitimate operation of a Contest in any way by cheating, hacking, deception, or any other unfair playing practices of intending to annoy, abuse, threaten or harass any other players or Sponsor representatives. CAUTION: ANY ATTEMPT TO DELIBERATELY DAMAGE OR UNDERMINE THE LEGITIMATE OPERATION OF THE CONTEST MAY BE IN VIOLATION OF CRIMINAL AND CIVIL LAWS AND WILL RESULT IN DISQUALIFICATION FROM PARTICIPATION IN THE CONTEST. SHOULD SUCH AN ATTEMPT BE MADE, SPONSOR RESERVES THE RIGHT TO SEEK REMEDIES AND DAMAGES (INCLUDING ATTORNEY FEES) TO THE FULLEST EXTENT OF THE LAW, INCLUDING CRIMINAL PROSECUTION.

Privacy

All personal information collected by Sponsor will be used for administration of the Contest and in accordance with Sponsor's privacy policy, which may include commercial email solicitation. Sponsor makes commercially reasonable efforts to comply with the Federal CAN-SPAM Act, and allows email recipients the option to opt out of receiving further email solicitations. Any questions regarding privacy matters should be directed to the address set out below.

Publicity

Except where prohibited by law, by accepting a prize, Selected Contestant agrees that Sponsor and its affiliated companies may use the Selected Contestant's name, address, Poethood profile, photograph, and/or likeness for advertising, publicity and promotional purposes without limitation or additional compensation.

Official rules and winners list

For a copy of these Official Rules, or for a copy of the winners' list, send your request in a self-addressed, stamped envelope to: Cluster Press Ltd., 207 Grosvenor House, 141 Drury Lane, WC2B 5TB London, UK. Request must be received by December 31, 2010.

Copyright © 2010 Poethood, Inc. All rights reserved.