The Matrix Online Battle of the Bands Contest 2006
OFFICIAL RULES
NO PURCHASE NECESSARY TO ENTER OR WIN.
Participation constitutes entrant's full and unconditional agreement to and acceptance of these Official Rules. The Matrix Online Battle of the Bands 2006 Contest ("Contest") begins at 12:00:01 a.m. Pacific Standard Time ("PST") April 3, 2006 and ends at 11:59 p.m. PST on April 9, 2006 ("Contest Period"). Contest is sponsored by Sony Online Entertainment Inc., 8928 Terman Court, San Diego, CA 92121 by and through its agents ("Sponsor"). Entries submitted after Contest Period will not be considered or judged. The Winner will be announced on or about April 19, 2006.
Eligibility:
Only the original author (and including the author's affiliated band members) who submitted the musical track may enter or win (in the event of a dispute as to authorship, Sponsor reserves the right to disqualify any entry or winner; Sponsor's decisions are final). Contest is open only to natural persons who are legal residents of the fifty (50) United States (including the District of Columbia) for the duration of the Contest. Void in Puerto Rico, Guam, all other U.S. and all foreign territories and possessions and wherever prohibited or restricted by law. Contest may only be entered from and in eligible jurisdictions. Entrants must be 18 years of age or older at time of entry in order to participate. Employees, officers, directors, and agents of Sponsor, its parent company, affiliates, subsidiaries, advertising, promotion, and fulfillment agencies, their immediate family members and persons living in their same household, are not eligible to participate in the Contest. All federal, state, and local laws and regulations apply.
How to Enter:
To enter, review these rules and transmit an e-mail with your band's name, the name of each member of the band and your band's preferred contact information along with an .mp3 format audio file (under five (5) MBs in size) or a hyperlink to a Windows Media (.wmv), QuickTime (.mov), MPEG (.mpg) or AVI (.avi) format video of your band performing one (1) original song of five (5) minutes in length or less (including credits) to mxo-battleofthebands@soe.sony.com. Review the judging criteria for your submission. With the exception of Sponsor materials which may be included in your entry (as set forth in the Terms and Conditions of Use for The Matrix Online), all content in your submission must be the entrants original creation, executed solely by the entrant(s). The entry must not be subject to the rights of any third parties (other than Sponsor), must be an original work of authorship, and must not violate, misappropriate or infringe any copyright, trademark or other proprietary right of any other person or entity. The content may not be offensive or otherwise unsuitable for use, as determined in Sponsor's sole discretion. By participating in the Contest, you are granting Sponsor an irrevocable right and license to publish, use, edit, and display any or all of the content in your submission, without further approval, without territorial, time, or other limitations, for any and all purposes, including, but not limited to, marketing, advertising, and promotional purposes.
Determination of Winners:
The Winners will be selected in accordance with the following judging procedure.
Panel Judges:
Eligible entrants will be judged by a panel of judges, consisting of members of Sponsor's THE MATRIX ONLINE development team, marketing team, and management team, according to the criteria set forth below, and whose decisions are final and binding in all respects. The panel judges will use the following criteria in determining a ranking of the top submissions (the number of which is at Sponsor's discretion, based upon the number and quality of entries): The panel judges will use a 0-100 point scale. 0-35 points for originality, 0-35 points for creativity, and 0-30 points for thematic content consistent with THE MATRIX ONLINE. In the unlikely event of a tie for any portion of the Contest, the judging panel shall break that tie by determining which of the tied entries better represents THE MATRIX ONLINE theme. The Winners will only be selected from those eligible entries meeting the judging criteria set forth above and if no entry meets the criteria above, in the panel's sole and absolute discretion, then no winner shall be chosen. The eligible entrants receiving the most votes from the judges will be the potential winners (the "Winners"), subject to verification or eligibility by Sponsor.
Any attempt at entry except as above stated is void. Any submission of robotic, automatic, or programmed entries, or any entries submitted by agencies, other third parties, or through other unapproved methods are void.
Description of Grand Prize:
Up to Twenty-five (25) Grand Prizes (based on eligibility, quality and other requirements as described herein). The Grand Prize Winners' submission(s) will be included in the live, in-game concert for the massively multi-player online game entitled THE MATRIX ONLINE (subject to Sponsor guidelines, standards, and practices, and in a manner and location determined by Sponsor in its discretion) and may additionally be featured on THE MATRIX ONLINE website, located at thematrixonline.station.sony.com. Additionally, Grand Prize Winners shall receive one (1) retail box of The Matrix Online massively multi-player online game per band member (up to a maximum of six (6) band members total). Approximate Retail Value ("ARV") of the Grand Prize: US$19.99. Runner-Up Prizes: Up to ten (10) Runner-Ups shall receive one (1) retail box including THE MATRIX ONLINE massively multi-player online game per band member (up to a maximum of six (6) band members total). Approximate Retail Value ("ARV") of the Runner-Up Prize: US$19.99. TOTAL ARV OF ALL PRIZES: US$4,179.90.
General Limitations for all prizes:
No alternative prize, cash, or other substitution is permitted except by Sponsor in the event of prize unavailability. Prizes are non-transferable. All federal, state, and local taxes are the sole responsibility of Winners. A total of up to thirty-five (35) prizes will be awarded (up to twenty-five (25) Grand Prizes and up to ten (10) Runner-Up Prizes). Total ARV of all Prizes: US$4179.90. The potential winners will be notified by e-mail or first class mail within five (5) days of the conclusion of the judging. The potential winners will have five (5) days from notification to accept the prize by e-mail or by U.S. mail to the address specified in the notification. Prizes will be delivered within approximately six (6) to eight (8) weeks of verification and/or confirmation of the winner(s).
Requirements of Winners:
Potential Winners are required to sign and return releases of liability, declarations of eligibility, and where lawful, publicity consent agreements, within five (5) days of acknowledged notification. Winner agrees to the use of his or her name, voice and/or likeness, and musical submission (including, but not limited to, the right to use, modify, reproduce, publish, perform, display, distribute, make derivative works of and otherwise commercially or non-commercially exploit the musical submission specifically in connection with the Contest in perpetuity and throughout the universe, in any manner or medium now existing or hereafter developed), for the purpose of advertising, trade, or promotion without further compensation, unless prohibited by law. If a selected potential winner cannot be contacted, is ineligible (under these rules or due to a failure to comply with any of the other applicable policies, licenses, rules, and terms of service, or fails to timely return the completed and executed releases/agreements as required, potential winner status may be forfeited and an alternate potential winner may, at Sponsor's discretion, be selected.
General Terms and Conditions:
By participating in the Contest, entrant agrees that under no circumstances, including, but not limited to, negligence, shall Sponsor or Warner Brothers, their respective officers, directors, employees, shareholders, agents, successors, and assigns (the "Released Parties") be liable for any direct, indirect, incidental, special, or consequential damages arising out participation in the Contest, even if any or all of the Released Parties have been advised of the possibility of such damages. Some jurisdictions do not allow the exclusion or limitation of incidental or consequential damages, therefore such exclusions may not apply to you. By participating in the Contest, entrant waives any and all rights to bring any claim or action related to his/her participation in any forum beyond one (1) year after the first occurrence of the kind of act, event, condition or omission upon which the claim or action is based. By entering, each entrant agrees to be bound by these Official Rules and the decisions of Sponsor, which shall be final. Sponsor reserves the right to disqualify any person, entry, or e-mail address that Sponsor determines to be in violation of any term contained in these Official Rules. Sponsor and Warner Brothers and their respective parent companies, affiliates, subsidiaries, advertising, promotion, and fulfillment agencies, and legal advisors, and the respective employees, officers, directors, shareholders, agents, and representatives of each, are not responsible for and shall not be liable for: (i) late, lost, delayed, damaged, misdirected, stolen, incomplete, illegible, unintelligible or postage-due entries, notices, releases, forms, affidavits, or other correspondence; (ii) telephone, electronic, hardware or software program, network, Internet, or computer malfunctions, failures, interruptions or difficulties of any kind; (iii) failed, incomplete, garbled, or delayed computer transmissions; (iv) any condition caused by events beyond the control of the Sponsor that may cause the Contest to be disrupted or corrupted; (v) any injuries, losses, or damages of any kind arising in connection with or as a result from participation in the Contest or arising from the entrant's access to and use of the Internet site thematrixonline.station.sony.com (and all related websites of Sponsor, including www.station.sony.com), including without limitation, personal injury, death, and property damage, and claims based on publicity rights, defamation, or invasion of privacy, to the extent permitted by law; or (vi) any errors in any materials associated with the Contest. Sponsor reserves the right to cancel, suspend and/or modify the Contest if any problem corrupts the administration, security, or operation of the Contest, as determined by Sponsor in its sole discretion. Sponsor reserves the right in its sole discretion to disqualify any individual it finds to be tampering with the entry process or the operation of the Contest or to be acting in violation of these Official Rules or in an unsportsmanlike or disruptive manner. Any attempt by any person to undermine the legitimate operation of the Contest may be a violation of criminal and civil law, and, should such an attempt be made, Sponsor reserves the right to seek damages from any such person to the fullest extent permitted by law. Sponsor's failure to enforce any term of these Official Rules shall not constitute a waiver of that provision.
Disputes:
Contest is governed by the laws of the United States and the State of California. As a condition of participating in the Contest, entrant agrees that any and all actions or proceedings related to the Contest shall be exclusively brought in the County of San Diego, State of California (if under state law) or the Southern District of California (if under Federal law), and the parties agree not to raise in connection therewith, and hereby waive, any defenses based upon the venue, the inconvenience of the forum, the lack of personal jurisdiction, the sufficiency of service of process or the like in any such action or suit brought in the State of California.
Winner List and Official Rules:
A winner's list will be posted on the web site at thematrixonline.station.sony.com, on the World Wide Web at the conclusion of the Contest. To obtain a copy of the winner list or a copy of these Official Rules, send your request along with a stamped, self-addressed envelope to: Attn: Marketing Department THE MATRIX ONLINE Battle of the Bands 2006, 8928 Terman Court, San Diego, CA 92121. Requests must be received no later than July 31, 2006.
