Rules

Guidelines (Official Rules below)

Please use the following information to guide you when making your submission.

Content:

We are looking for really creative videos that reflect the voting experiences, positive or negative, of people in Massachusetts on Election Day 2008. There are some legal limits on what you can do (see below and the Official Rules), and we've laid out some basic guidelines, but as long as your video fits within those guidelines, what you put in your video is up to you (live action, animation, personal testimonial, whatever!).

  1. Please, no personal attacks on anyone.
  2. We ask that videos be as non-partisan as possible. We are interested in the voting process, not political parties.
  3. Videos must be appropriate for a broad audience since the winning video may be broadcast on television.
  4. No video may depict harmful or illegal activity or substance, or offensive subject matter as determined at our sole discretion. No video shall portray MassVOTE in a negative light.
  5. Videos must also be original works of authorship. By entering, you warrant that your video does not infringe any third party’s rights, and that you have obtained any necessary permissions from all relevant third parties to submit the Submission. You may not be, nor may you use in your video parties who: 1) are represented under contract (e.g., by a talent agent or manager) that would limit or impair our ability to show the video in any media form; 2) have an acting or modeling contract that would make their appearance in the video 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 contest, or from allowing us to use the video online and in television media.
  6. We reserve the right to exclude any video that we believe doesn't meet the above criteria, at our sole discretion.
  7. Because this is a contest, we cannot offer personalized feedback. However, if you have a question about these guidelines, you may email us at eyeondemocracy@massvote.org.  When possible, we'll either point you in the direction of the information you need or update our Frequently Asked Questions page and point you to that information.

Judging Criteria:

Both MassVOTE staff and the panel of judges will be asked to rate each video based on four criteria:

  1. 35% Originality. We are looking for narratives with a unique perspective/viewpoint, not dry political commentary.
  2. 25% Coherence and Relevance of Message.  All videos should chronicle the voting experiences, good or bad, of people in Massachusetts on Election Day 2008.Your video should tell a story and have a message that is easy for a wide variety of audiences to understand. Also all videos should be appropriate for all ages (keep it rated G).
  3. 25% Potential to Inspire. Your video should inspire Massachusetts citizens to become an active part of the political process.
  4. 15% Technical Execution. We understand that entrants will come from a variety of different backgrounds and levels of training. That being said we are looking for videos that have the best craftsmanship possible.

Who can participate:

Anyone over 15 years old who is a U.S. citizen or permanent resident alien. As much as we'd like to make this a global contest, federal election and tax regulations make that impossible.

Length:

Your video, as submitted, should be no more that 3 minutes, preferably around 2.5 minutes. If you submit a longer video, we may have to edit it.

Format:

Submissions will be accepted in digital format only. We recommend that you save your videos as either QuickTime .MOV, Windows .AVI, or .MPG files—these are the most common formats. We specifically recommend the MPEG4 (Divx, Xvid) format at 640x480 resolution with MP3 audio.

Creative Commons License:

All entrants must agree to license their Submission under the Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 United States License. To learn more about this license, visit http://creativecommons.org/.

Respect for Existing Copyright:

You must be the original author of everything in your video or have permission to use copyright protected material. This includes photos or video clips not taken by you and existing music you did not compose. Some musicians and photographers make their material available under Creative Commons license or other copy-free arrangements. It is your responsibility to determine the copyright status of material not created by you. If MassVOTE discovers your video includes copyright protected material that you do not have permission to use, your submission will be ineligible for the contest.

Consent from Actors in Your Video:
All entrants will be required to declare that they have consent from any people appearing in their video. Please note that for anyone under than age of 18 appearing in your video, you must have the signed consent of the minor’s parents or legal guardian. A sample video consent form can be found here on our website http://www.eyeondemocracy.org .

OFFICIAL RULES

ALL SUBMITTED ENTRIES AND THEIR CONTENT MUST BE LICENSED PURSUANT TO THE CREATIVE COMMONS LICENSE DESIGNATED FOR THIS PROMOTION. MUST BE A U. S. CITIZEN OR U. S. PERMANENT RESIDENT ALIEN AND OVER 15 YEARS OLD TO ENTER. Participation constitutes entrant's full and unconditional agreement to and acceptance of these Official Rules. The MassVOTE Eye on Democracy Contest ("Contest") commences at September 23, 2008. Contest is sponsored and run by MassVOTE, located at 18 Tremont Street, Suite 608, Boston, MA 02108 ("Sponsor").

Eligibility:

Contest is open only to natural persons older than 15 years of age as of the date of entry, who are U.S. citizens or U.S. resident aliens. Employees, independent contractors, officers, and directors of Sponsor, its affiliates, subsidiaries, advertising, promotion and fulfillment agencies, and legal advisors, and the immediate family members and persons living in the same household of such persons, are not eligible to participate in the Contest. Contest offered only in the 50 United States, the District of Columbia, and U.S. military bases abroad. Void where prohibited by law.

How to Enter:

Create your own "Eye on Democracy" video ("Submission") to show the voting experiences, good or bad, of people in Massachusetts on Election Day 2008, using the Submission Criteria contained in these rules. Your Submission should effectively communicate, in an informative, memorable and creative way, experience of voters, good and bad, on election day in Massachusetts. Anytime between September 23, 2008 and November 24, 2008, access Sponsor's website at http://www.eyeondemocracy.org , print out and complete the Contest Entry Form, and mail your entry on a DVD or CD to MassVOTE, Eye on Democracy Contest, 18 Tremont Street, Suite 608, Boston, MA 02108. Submissions may be any form of moving image, including but not limited to, video, animation, text and audio in either MPEG, AVI or QuickTime online formats. Duration of entry should be about 2 minutes, but cannot exceed 3 minutes. For any Submission broadcast by Sponsor that is longer than 3 minutes, Sponsor will edit the entry to accommodate required disclaimers identifying Sponsor as the organization paying for broadcast. Submissions that have previously been broadcast or which cannot be shown subject to a Creative Commons license are not eligible. Both audio/visual and visual only entries are permitted. To be eligible for entry in the Contest, entries must be
Postmarked by November 24, 2008. Sorry, no email entries.
You may enter as many Submissions as you like, but each Submission must be separately entered.

Submission Criteria:

  1. Submissions must be about voting experiences, good or bad, of people in Massachusetts on Election Day 2008.
  2. Please, no personal attacks on anyone.
  3. Submissions must be appropriate for a broad audience since the winning Submission may be broadcast on television.
  4. Submissions must also be original works of authorship. By entering, Entrant warrants that his or her Submission does not infringe any third party’s rights, and that Entrant has obtained any necessary permissions from all relevant third parties to submit the Submission pursuant to a Creative Commons license. All Submissions must be original works of authorship created by the Entrant who submits the Submission and who must be a natural person. Entrants may not be, nor may Entrant 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 the Submission online and in television media.
  5. Sponsor reserves the right to exclude any Submission that doesn't meet the above criteria, at Sponsor's sole discretion.
  6. No Submission may depict harmful or illegal activity or substance, or offensive subject matter as determined in the sole discretion of Sponsor. No Submission shall portray Sponsor in a negative light.

Prize:

OUTLINE OF PRIZES (i.e. language below from MoveOn.org)
One (1) First  Prize: Entrant who receives the highest score statewide, according to the Judging Criteria, will be the Winner of the First  Prize. The winning Submission, which may be edited for length, clarity, or other reasons in the sole discretion of the Sponsor, may be aired as part of a television campaign funded by Sponsor. Time and placement of airing shall be at the sole discretion of Sponsor. Sponsor is not obligated under these rules to air the Submission, and the airing of the Submission has no cash value.
The winner will also receive a check in the amount of two thousand five hundred U.S. dollars ($2,500 USD). The winner is solely responsible for all taxes and/or fees that may be incurred by the prize.
One (1) Second  Prize: Entrant who receives the second highest score statewide, according to the Judging Criteria, will be the Winner of the Second  Prize. The Submission, which may be edited for length, clarity, or other reasons in the sole discretion of the Sponsor, may be aired as part of a television campaign funded by Sponsor. Time and placement of airing shall be at the sole discretion of Sponsor. Sponsor is not obligated under these rules to air the Submission, and the airing of the Submission has no cash value.
The winner will also receive a check in the amount of one thousand five hundred U.S. dollars ($1,500 USD). The winner is solely responsible for all taxes and/or fees that may be incurred by the prize.
One (1) Third  Prize: Entrant who receives the third highest score statewide, according to the Judging Criteria, will be the Winner of the Third Prize. The Submission, which may be edited for length, clarity, or other reasons in the sole discretion of the Sponsor, may be aired as part of a television campaign funded by Sponsor. Time and placement of airing shall be at the sole discretion of Sponsor. Sponsor is not obligated under these rules to air the Submission, and the airing of the Submission has no cash value.
The winner will also receive a check in the amount of one thousand U.S. dollars ($1,000 USD). The winner is solely responsible for all taxes and/or fees that may be incurred by the prize.
Five (5) Regional Prizes. Any submission that does not win First, Second, or Third prize will be eligible to win a Regional Prize. The region of each video is determined by where the video was filmed, not the domicile of the entrants. The Entrant who receives the highest score in the region, according to the judging criteria, and is not a winner of first, second, or third prize will win the regional prize. The Submission, which may be edited for length, clarity, or other reasons in the sole discretion of the Sponsor, may be aired as part of a television campaign funded by Sponsor. Time and placement of airing shall be at the sole discretion of Sponsor. Sponsor is not obligated under these rules to air the Submission, and the airing of the Submission has no cash value.
The five (5) winners will also receive a check in the amount of five hundred U.S. Dollars ($500). The winner is solely responsible for all taxes and/or fees that may be incurred by the prize.

Judging Criteria:

All otherwise eligible Submissions submitted by the Contest end date will be judged according to the criteria. Prior to the judging rounds, all entries will be prescreened for appropriateness and for adherence to the Submission Guidelines and these Official Rules, which screening decisions are solely in the discretion of Sponsor. Submissions that are found to be deficient during the prescreening process may not be eligible for judging.
A panel of qualified judges will score each of the Finalist Submissions according to the following judging criteria: Originality (35% of overall grade), Coherence and Relevance of Message (25% of overall grade) Potential to inspire (25% of overall grade), and Technical Execution (15%). Judges will report which Submission receives the highest score to Sponsor and the Submission receiving the highest overall score shall be deemed the winning Submission. In the event of a tie, the tying entries will be rescored until a winner is selected.
All grading decisions are final. Sponsor reserves the right to disqualify and remove any entry which is, in the judging panel's discretion, inappropriate, offensive, defamatory, or demeaning to Sponsor's reputation or goodwill. Winner will be notified by e-mail, express mail and/or phone on or about December  22, 2008 and may be required to complete an affidavit or declaration of eligibility/liability release and, except where prohibited, a publicity release and such other documents as may be required by Sponsor to protect its right to air and use the winning Submission. Required documents must be signed and received within 7 days of the date printed on the prize notification. Winner may be notified before the Winner is publicly announced. Failure to comply or return of any prize notification as undeliverable may result in forfeiture of prize and selection of the next highest score entrant as the winner. In the event that the winner cannot accept the prize for any reason, the Submission receiving the highest score from the next highest number of judges will be chosen. A parent or guardian of a winner not of the age of majority in state of residence will be required to ratify and sign required documents. Sponsor is not responsible for and shall not be liable for late, lost, misdirected, or unsuccessful efforts to notify winners. Accepting the prize constitutes permission (except where prohibited by law) to use winner's name, hometown (including state) and/or likeness for promotional purposes without further compensation. Public announcement of the Winner will take place no later than January 1, 2009.

General Terms and Conditions:

By participating, entrants agree that Sponsor, its shareholders, agents and representatives, affiliates, subsidiaries, advertising, promotion and fulfillment agencies, and legal advisors are not responsible or liable for, and shall be released and held harmless from: (i) telephone, electronic, hardware or software program, network, Internet, or computer malfunctions, failures, or difficulties of any kind; (ii) any condition caused by events beyond the control of Sponsor that may cause the Contest to be disrupted or corrupted; (iii) any printing or typographical errors in any materials associated with the Contest; (iv) any and all losses, damages, rights, claims and actions of any kind in connection with or resulting from participation in the Contest, or acceptance of the prize, including without limitation, claims based on publicity rights, defamation, or invasion of privacy. Sponsor is not responsible or liable for Entries that are not successfully submitted by the end of the submission period. Sponsor reserves the right, in its sole discretion, to suspend or cancel Contest at any time if a computer virus, bug, or other technical problem corrupts the administration, security, or proper conduct of the Contest. All issues and questions concerning the construction, validity, interpretation and enforceability of these Official Rules, or the rights and obligations of participant and Sponsor in connection with the Contest, shall be governed by, and construed in accordance with the laws of the State of California, without giving effect to any choice of law or conflict of law rules or provisions (whether of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts or any other jurisdiction), that would cause the application of the laws of any jurisdiction other than the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.

Winners List/Official Rules:

A copy of these official rules and a winners list may be obtained by sending an email request to eyeondemocracy@massvote.org or by fax request 617-259-1599. Requests for winners list must be received by February 1, 2009.

Privacy Policy:

See MassVOTE Political Action's Privacy Policy regarding use of all material entered and/or submitted for this Contest or otherwise collected by this site, except as otherwise provided in these Official Rules.

Sponsor:

MassVOTE
18 Tremont Street
Suite 608
Boston, MA 02108
www.massvote.org

Digital Millennium Copyright Act:

MassVOTE makes commercially reasonable efforts to comply with DMCA. Please see DMCA information in our terms of use here.

 

Design by Julian Johannesen.