Alpha Female Plus - Official Rules and Terms & Conditions
SONY ELECTRONICS’ ALPHA FEMALE PLUS GRANT PROGRAM
OFFICIAL RULES
NO PURCHASE OR PAYMENT NECESSARY TO ENTER OR WIN. MUST BE AT LEAST 18+ (AL and NE, 19+) YEARS OF AGE AT TIME OF ENTRY. A PURCHASE WILL NOT ENHANCE YOUR CHANCES OF WINNING. THIS GRANT PROGRAM IS INTENDED FOR PARTICIPATION IN THE UNITED STATES AND DC (EXCLUDING TERRITORIES) AND CANADA (EXCLUDING THE PROVINCE OF QUEBEC) ONLY AND WILL BE GOVERNED BY APPLICABLE U.S. AND CANADIAN LAW. DO NOT ENTER IF YOU ARE NOT ELIGIBLE AND LOCATED IN THE UNITED STATES OR CANADA AT THE TIME OF ENTRY AND/OR DO NOT AGREE TO THESE OFFICIAL RULES.
1. THE GRANT PROGRAM: Open and offered only to legal residents of the 50 United States, D.C., and Canada (excluding the Province of Quebec) who are at least 18+ (AL and NE, 19+) years of age at time of entry. Sony Electronics’ Alpha Female Plus Grant Program (“Grant Program”) consists of twelve (12) Grants for the most compelling submissions as more fully set forth below. This Grant Program starts August 15, 2020 at 12:00:01 P.M., Pacific Time (“PT”) and ends February 15, 2021 at 11:59:59 P.M. PT (“Participation Period”). ALL ENTRIES MUST BE RECEIVED NO LATER THAN 11:59:59 PM PT on February 15, 2021. Sponsor’s computer is the official clock for this Grant Program. Void in Puerto Rico, the Province of Quebec and where prohibited by law.
2. HOW TO ENTER – INTERNET ACCESS REQUIRED:
To enter this Grant Program the Entrant must complete the following steps:
STEP 1: Entrant must have or open an account and create a public profile (or make their account a public profile) on Alpha Universe located at https://alphauniverse.com/profile/ to submit entry.
STEP 2: Enter this Grant Program via the “Apply Now” button at https://alphauniverse.com/alpha-female (“Website”).
STEP 3: Entrant must complete the entry form and submit the following information (collectively “Submissions”) on the Website during the Participation Period:
Entrant must post and submit the following with regard to a project that the Entrant wants to create, which may be any theme, thesis, topic or artistic expression that Entrant is interested in pursuing as a cause, activity, communication, or artistic expression that furthers the perspective of women and/or minorities using photography or video, subject to Rule 3 and the terms of this Grant Program (“Project”).
A. PROJECT PROPOSAL ESSAY: An essay (up to 3,000 characters) describing Entrant’s Project.
B. PERSONAL VIDEO: A video of up to one minute of the Entrant introducing themselves and providing a broad overview of why they want to pursue the Project.
C. PHOTOS/VIDEOS:
Entrant must submit in one (1) of the following categories:
• Photographers: Minimum of five (5) photos uploaded to the Entrant’s public profile on Website.
• Videographers: One (1) sample of the Entrant’s work in video (no longer than three (3) minutes in length) uploaded to YouTube or Vimeo and provide the URL with the entry (the video may be uploaded unlisted, but cannot be password-protected).
Submissions created utilizing any brand of digital imaging products – including non-Sony branded products – may be submitted materials to enter this Grant Program. Entrant should retain and store the original versions or formats of the Submissions.
3. SUBMISSIONS REQUIREMENTS: Submissions: (i) must be in the English language or accompanied with an English translation of the audio or visual text; (ii) must be the exclusive original work of the Entrant; (iii) may not be inappropriate, offensive, libelous or defamatory, pornographic, sexually explicit, unlawful or plagiarized, as determined by Sony in its sole discretion; (iv) must not be harassing, abusive, threatening, harmful, vulgar, profane, obscene, excessively violent, racially, ethnically or otherwise objectionable or offensive in any way, as determined by Sony in its sole discretion; (v) may not violate or encourage others to violate any applicable law, statute, ordinance or regulation; (vi) may not defame or invade publicity rights or privacy of any person, living or deceased, or otherwise infringe upon any person’s personal or property rights or any other third party rights; (vii) may not contain commercial or corporate advertising, other than those relating to Sony Electronics Inc.; (viii) may not include any website URLs, viruses, worms, corrupt files, Trojan horses, or other forms of corruptive code or content that may harm or compromise the proper conduct of this Grant Program or Sony; (ix) may not use any watermarks or distinguishing artist marks (such as signatures); and (x) if found to be in violation of these Grant Official Rules will be disqualified and therefore removed from this Grant Program. By submitting an entry, Entrant represents that (i) they have the unrestricted right to submit the entry; and (ii) the entry does not infringe upon any third party’s proprietary or other rights. No damaged, incomplete, forged or appropriated entries will be accepted.
Entrant may enter a maximum of one (1) entry for the Participation Period.
4. IMPORTANT DATES FOR PARTICIPATING IN THIS GRANT PROGRAM: This Grant Program consists of twelve (12) weekly periods (“Weekly Period(s)”) whereby Sponsor will judge all eligible entries received from the commencement of the Participation Period to the End Date of the Weekly Period according to the judging criteria set forth in Rule 6 and award a Grant to the winner for each Weekly Period. Each Weekly Period starts and ends on the dates and times described in the table below. Other important dates for each Weekly Period are also listed below. Non-winning entries from one Weekly Period will be carried forward and included in subsequent Weekly Periods. Entry is via Internet only.
5. SELECTION OF GRANT AWARD WINNERS: On or about the respective “Grant Judging Date” listed in the table above, Sony, will select potential winner of each Weekly Period based on the judging criteria in Rule 6 from among all eligible entries received from the commencement of the Participation Period through that the End Date of that respective Weekly Period. The potential winner will be notified by phone and email on the respective Notification Dates listed in the table.
6. JUDGING CRITERIA: All eligible entries for each Weekly Period will be judged by Sony, in its sole discretion, based on the following criteria.
• Project Theme – 30%
• Project Creativity – 30%
• Perceived Project Feasibility – 10%
• Ability to Convey Self Identity of Entrant (i.e. “who Entrant is”) in Personal Video – 10%
• Previous Work Samples as express in Photos or Video Submissions of Rule 2(C) – Quality – 20%
7. GRANT AWARD WINNERS PROJECT DELIVERABLE DEADLINE: Each Weekly Period Grant winner must submit to Sony the following “Deliverables” – utilizing the Sony Product prize – on the Deliverable Deadline that corresponds to the Weekly Period that the Grant winner won:
• Photos or video (any number and length) pertaining to the Project; and
• A written article (any length) regarding the Project or an interview with Sony for an article to be written by Sony on the Project.
8. GRANT AWARDS AND APPROXIMATE RETAIL VALUES (“ARV”): TOTAL OF TWELVE (12) GRANT AWARDS: There will be twelve (12) Grant winners each of the twelve (12) Grant winners will receive:
• Grant winner shall participate in the Sony Electronics’ Alpha Female Plus Grant Program for the Participation Period;
• $5,000 to use for the Grant winner’s Project (payable in U.S. Dollars by check):
• Sony Electronics Inc. digital imaging products valued at $3,000 (based on estimated retail value) (“Sony Products”);
• One (1) year Adobe Creative Cloud All Apps subscription (ARV $636.00)
ARV of each Grant for each Weekly Period winner is: $8,636 USD. Total ARV Grant Program package is: $103,636 USD.
All federal, state, provincial and local taxes and fees associated with the Grant receipt and/or use, if any, are solely the responsibility of winner. Canadian residents may also be subject to withholding taxes and are responsible for the reporting and payment of any income tax. The ARV represents Sponsor’s good faith determination. That determination is final and binding and cannot be appealed. Actual value of the Grant may vary.
IMPORTANT: Sony has no responsibility for a winner’s inability or failure to accept or utilize a Grant as described herein. Except for the cash award, the other components of the Grants are not redeemable for cash. All components in the Grant are nontransferable, non-assignable and non-substitutable except that Sony may, at its sole discretion, substitute a Grant or any component thereof with one of equal or greater value. The potential winners of the Grant will each be required to sign and return within ten (10) days of notification or attempted notification of being a potential winner, an Affidavit of Eligibility/Compliance (including Social Security Number/information as required for tax reporting purposes) & Publicity/Liability Release (where permitted by law), or the Grant will be forfeited in its entirety and, time allowing, an alternate potential winner(s) will be selected. Additionally, the winners will each receive a Form 1099 or other document in the amount of the actual value of the Grant, as required by law. Persons under the age of 18+ (AL and NE, 19+) (as of the date of entry) are not eligible to enter or win a Grant.
If a potential winner is found to be ineligible, is not in compliance with these Grant Official Rules, does not respond to the phone call or e-mail in a timely manner, is disqualified or forfeits Grant for any reason, declines to accept the Grant, or if the Grant notification or Grant is returned as undeliverable, Sponsor reserves the right to award the Grant to an alternate Entrant who will also be selected per the judging criteria from all remaining non-winning entries received during the Participation Period. If after a good-faith attempt Sponsor is unable to award or deliver a Grant, the Grant will not be awarded.
9. ELIGIBILITY: This Grant Program is open only to persons who are legal residents of, and living within, the 50 United States and District of Columbia (excluding territories) and Canada (excluding the province of Quebec), at least 18+ (AL and NE, 19+) years of age, as of the date of entry except officers, directors, and employees (and members of their household and of their immediate families, i.e., parents, children, stepchildren, spouse, siblings, “step” of each and persons residing in the same household of such immediate family members) of Sony, its subsidiaries, affiliates, sales representatives, distributors, advertising/Grant/web design agencies and/or their affiliates, assigns or representatives; (hereinafter referred to collectively as “Sony & Others”), and all other persons or entities associated with the development, administration, Grant, execution of, or supply to this Grant Program.
In the event of a dispute as to any registration, the authorized account holder of the email address used to register will be deemed to be the entrant. The “authorized account holder” is the natural person assigned an email address by an Internet access provider, online service provider or other organization (e.g., business, educational institution, etc.) that is responsible for assigning email addresses for the domain associated with the submitted address. Each potential winner may be required to show proof of being the authorized account holder.
10. RELEASE: By acceptance of a Grant, the winner releases Sony & Others, from and against any and all liability and claims or causes of action, including, but not limited to, personal injury, death, or damage to or loss of property with respect to all aspects of this Grant Program, including those arising out of participation in this Grant Program, any Grant Program related activity whether sponsored by Sony & Others or third parties, or the acceptance or possession or use/misuse of a Grant or any component of a Grant.
11. LIMITATIONS OF LIABILITY/INTERNET: Sony & Others are not responsible for interrupted or unavailable network server or other connections, miscommunications, failed telephone or computer transmissions or jumbled, scrambled or misdirected entries or transmissions, or for phone, electrical, network, computer hardware or software or program malfunctions, failures or difficulties or for other errors, omissions, interruptions, or deletions of any kind whether human, typographical, mechanical or electronic or for any damage to any person’s computer related to participating in this Grant Program. Sony & Others are not responsible for illegible, unintelligible, late, lost or stolen entries or incorrect or inaccurate entry information, whether caused by Internet users or by any of the equipment or programming associated with or utilized in this Grant Program or by any technical, typographical or human errors which may occur in the processing of any entries in this Grant Program. Any Entrant who attempts to interfere with the proper play of this Grant Program will be disqualified from participation in this Grant Program. Persons found tampering with or abusing any aspect of this Grant Program, as solely determined by Sony, will be disqualified and may be subject to prosecution. If in the judgment of Sony, this Grant Program is compromised by viruses, bugs, non-authorized human intervention or other causes beyond the control of Sony, which corrupt the administration, security, fairness or proper play of this Grant Program, Sony reserves the right, in its sole discretion to discontinue, modify, suspend or terminate this Grant Program and proceed in a manner it deems fair and reasonable, including the selection of winners from among eligible entries received prior to such discontinuation, modification, suspension or termination. Any personally identifiable information collected during an Entrant’s participation in this Grant Program will be collected by Sony and used by Sony and its agents solely for purposes of the proper administration and fulfillment of this Grant Program as described in these Grant Official Rules or as stated in Sony’s Privacy Policy at http://products.sel.sony.com/SEL/legal/privacy.html (for residents of US) and https://corporate.sony.ca/view/privacy.htm (for residents of Canada).
ANY ATTEMPT TO DELIBERATELY DAMAGE ANY WEBSITE OR UNDERMINE THE LEGITIMATE OPERATION OF THIS GRANT PROGRAM IS A VIOLATION OF CRIMINAL AND CIVIL LAWS. SHOULD SUCH AN ATTEMPT BE MADE, SONY RESERVES THE RIGHT TO SEEK DAMAGES OR OTHER REMEDIES FROM ANY SUCH PERSON(S) RESPONSIBLE FOR THE ATTEMPT TO THE FULLEST EXTENT PERMITTED BY LAW. In the event of a dispute as to the identity of a potential winner based on an email address, the winning entry will be deemed to have been made by the Authorized Account Holder of the email address submitted at time of entry. “Authorized Account Holder” is defined as the natural person who is assigned to an email address by an Internet access provider, on-line service provider or other organization (e.g., business, educational institution, etc.) that is responsible for assigning email addresses for the domain associated with the submitted email address.
SONY MAKES NO WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EITHER EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE OR NONINFRINGEMENT.
12. DISPUTES: Issues concerning the construction, validity, interpretation and enforceability of these Grant Official Rules shall be governed by the laws of the State of Delaware, United States, without regard to conflict of laws principles.
Should a dispute or claim arise related to this Grant Program (“Dispute”), Entrant and Sony agree that the Dispute shall be resolved exclusively through binding arbitration. ENTRANT UNDERSTAND AND ACKNOWLEDGE THAT BY AGREEING TO ARBITRATION, ENTRANT IS GIVING UP THE RIGHT TO LITIGATE (OR PARTICIPATE IN AS A PARTY OR CLASS MEMBER) IN ANY DISPUTES IN COURT. ENTRANT ALSO AGREE THAT ANY DISPUTE RESOLUTION PROCEEDING WILL ONLY CONSIDER ENTRANT’S INDIVIDUAL CLAIMS, AND SONY AND ENTRANT AGREE NOT TO HAVE ANY DISPUTE HEARD AS A CLASS ACTION, REPRESENTATIVE ACTION, CONSOLIDATED ACTION, OR PRIVATE ATTORNEY GENERAL ACTION.
Arbitration Instructions. To begin arbitration, either Entrant or Sony must make a written demand to the other for arbitration. The arbitration will take place before a single arbitrator. The arbitration will be administered in keeping with the Expedited Procedures of the Commercial Arbitration Rules and the Supplementary Proceedings for Consumer-Related disputes (“Rules”) of the American Arbitration Association (“AAA”), when applicable and in effect when the claim is filed. Entrant may get a copy of AAA’s Rules by contacting AAA at (800) 778-7879 or visiting www.adr.org. The filing fees to begin and carry out arbitration will be shared between Entrant and Sony, but in no event shall Entrant fees ever exceed the amount allowable by the special rules for Consumers Disputes provided for by AAA, at which point Sony will cover all additional administrative fees and expenses. This does not prohibit the arbitrator from giving the winning party their fees and expenses of the arbitration when appropriate pursuant to the Rules. Unless Entrant and Sony agree differently, the arbitration will take place in the county and state where Entrant live, and applicable U.S. federal or state law shall govern the substance of any Dispute during the arbitration. However, the U.S. Federal Arbitration Act, 9 U.S.C. § 1, et seq., will govern the arbitration itself and not any state or other law on arbitration. The arbitrator’s decision will be binding and final, except for a limited right of appeal under the U,S. Federal Arbitration Act. Any judgments or awards shall be limited to actual incurred out-of-pocket expenses (excluding attorneys’ fees) associated with participation in this Grant and shall not include any indirect, punitive, incidental and/or consequential damages.
13. GENERAL: By participating in the Grant, Entrants agree to these Grant Official Rules and the decisions of Sony, which are final and binding in all matters and all respects relating to this Grant. This Grant is void in Puerto Rico and Quebec and wherever else prohibited by law.
Residents of Canada, please note: By entering the Grant, Entrant grants their consent to transfer their personal data to the United States for purposes of administration of the Grant and consent for their personal information to be transmitted, stored and processed in jurisdictions outside of Canada that may not have the same protections as Canada. By entering the Grant, Entrant agrees that their personal information may be used for the following purposes and have the following consequences: (A) to contact Entrants regarding the Grant; (B) to publish an Entrant’s name in a Winners List, if they should win; and (C) if an Entrant elects to receive additional information, to send additional information to that Entrant. Entrants have the right to access, withdraw and correct their personal data. Entrants may request such action by sending a message to Sony Electronics’ Alpha Female Plus Grant Program Official Rules, 16535 VIA ESPRILLO, SAN DIEGO, CA, U.S.A. For further information see Sony Electronics Inc. Privacy Policy available online at https://products.sel.sony.com/SEL/legal/privacy.html for residents of the US and http://corporate.sony.ca/view/privacy.htm for residents of Canada.
By participating in the Grant and providing the Submissions to the Sponsor in connection with the Grant, each Entrant shall retain all right, title and interest (including copyright) in and to the Submission. Entrant acknowledges that Submissions will not be returned to Entrant. Acceptance of a Grant constitutes the winner’s consent to the use of their name, biographical information, photograph, likeness, Submissions, and/or Deliverables for advertising and publicity purposes as determined by Sony or its designees without further compensation, except where prohibited by law. All federal, state and local laws and regulations apply. Sony & Others are not responsible for any entries and/or entries that are lost, late, undelivered, misdelivered.
14. WINNERS LIST: For the name of the winners, no later than March 31, 2021, check the Alpha Universe website at https://alphauniverse.com/alpha-female/ or send a self-addressed stamped envelope to: Sony Electronics’ Alpha Female Plus Grant Program Winners List, 16535 Via Esprillo, San Diego, CA 92127.
Sponsor: Sony Electronics Inc., 16535 Via Esprillo, San Diego, CA 92127.
Sony Electronics’ Alpha Female Plus Grant Program Grant Official Rules may not be reprinted or republished in whole or in part without the prior written permission of Sony Electronics Inc.
Copyright 2020 Sony Electronics Inc. All rights reserved.