Rules and Regulations

The National Wildlife Federation invites photographers to enter its Fair Climate Photography Competition. You must read the following rules, terms and conditions before submitting any photos!

The NWF’s Fair Climate Digital Photography Competition (the “Contest”) is open to ALL photographers at least 18 years of age, except employees of and the immediate families of such employees. The contest is open to all U.S. residents.

YOUR RIGHTS: You will retain all rights to any photograph you submit — including ownership if applicable — other than those rights licensed in the next sentence. By entering the contest, you hereby grant to The National Wildlife Federation (i) a nonexclusive, worldwide, irrevocable, royalty-free license to reproduce, distribute, publicly display and publicly perform the photographs you submit to The National Wildlife Federation, and (ii) the right to use your name, city, state and country of residence in promotions and other publications.

WHAT TO ENTER: We are looking for striking digital images of what climate change looks like in your community – both the problems and the solutions. Your images may be taken anywhere in the world. Your images may show portraits of people, images of industry, transportation, your home or your community, public demonstrations, portraits of wildlife in natural habitat, weather, or people interacting with nature. We are especially interested in images that showcase what fair climate solutions look like in your community.

Please do not include photographs of pets or domestic animals. Images of captive animals photographed in zoos and commercial game farms are also prohibited, however photos from state and national wildlife preserves are allowed. If you choose to include people in your submission, you are responsible for obtaining the necessary releases from the individuals depicted, and must be able to provide copies of those releases to The National Wildlife Federation upon request. Entrants must not submit images that involve the willful harassment of wildlife, damage to the environment by the photographer, or infringe on the rights of any other photographer or person.

Photo captions must accompany all submissions, and should include the subject of the image, the location where the image was taken, and the name of the photographer(s). Please clearly label animals as wild in digital caption information to assist judges in determining eligibility. All photographs will be credited with the caption “© Person’s Name.” The National Wildlife Federation has final approval of any language that appears on its website with any of the photos and will not promote or endorse third-party products or services.

HOW TO ENTER: Each photo must be submitted electronically, by one (and only one) of the following method:

• Via FlickrTM — If you have multiple photos to enter in the competition, please consider using this method to enter the contest. To submit your photos via FlickrTM, use your Yahoo!® ID to login to www.flickr.com. If you do not have an account, you can sign-up for free at www.flickr.com. FlickrTM and Yahoo!® are trademarks of Yahoo, Inc. After logging in, upload your images using the mechanism provided. Browse to the image you wish to submit for the contest, and tag the image “fairclimateproject” to add it to The National Wildlife Federation’s Fair Climate photo pool. If you do not tag your photo with an appropriate tag, it will not be considered for the competition. Be sure to make sure your photo(s)’ privacy settings are set for public viewing.  If you have trouble using FlickrTM, please consult their online help files. The National Wildlife Federation is not responsible for any issues or problems you encounter while trying to upload a photo on FlickrTM.

Once your photo(s) is tagged “fairclimateproject” NWF staff will be in touch wth you via Flickr to ask you to officially register for the contest.  You are not eligible for the grand prize unless you are registered.

ELIGIBILITY AND JUDGING: To ensure eligibility for the contest, entries must have a resolution of 6 million pixels or greater (6 megapixels). Resolution can be calculated by multiplying the pixel width of the image with the pixel height. For example, a photograph taken with a 6 megapixel camera set for the highest resolution and best quality produces images approximately 2832 pixels by 2128 pixels, which are acceptable under the rules (2832 x 2128 = 6 million). Images that do not meet this standard may or may not be judged at the judging panel’s sole discretion.

Entries may originate in any format — including, but not limited to digital files, digital prints, color transparencies, color prints, or black and white prints — so long as they are submitted electronically. Previously published material for which non-exclusive rights were granted may be entered as long as you still maintain the right to grant us a license (see “Your Rights” above). You must be able to disclose when and where the photo appeared previously to The National Wildlife Federation upon request.

Images will be judged on originality, technical excellence, composition, overall impact and artistic merit. The National Wildlife Federation shall determine the two grand prize winners’ eligibility in its sole and absolute discretion. All decisions made by the judges are final. Twenty finalists will be selected by the general public between August 10 and September 30, 2009, website visitors will be able to vote for up to five images that they believe represent climate change. The top twenty photos will move on to the finals, and NWF staff will determine the top two grand prize winners.

DEADLINES: Deadline for submitting entries is 11:59 pm Pacific Standard Time on September 15, 2009. Online entries can be uploaded starting 12:01 am Eastern Standard Time on August 10, 2009.

Public voting for the top twenty finalists will end no later than 11:59 pm Pacific Standard Time, September 30, 2009. Grand Prize Winners will be announced on or before October 5, 2009.

The National Wildlife Federation reserves the right to adjust any deadline(s) as the result of causes beyond its immediate control.

WINNING PHOTOS: FairClimateProject.org website visitors will select 20 photos to be the contest’s Finalists. From the Finalists, NWF staff will select the two Grand Prize Winners. The Grand Prize winners will win an opportunity to come to Washington DC and meet with the Congresspeople to talk about the importance of addressing climate change. You must be a U.S. Resident to be eligible for the grand prize.

All submissions will be used to create a photo collage that will be delivered to all U.S. Senators as a visual representation of the urgency and opportunity to address climate change.

LEGAL CONDITIONS: By entering this contest, you agree to certain legal conditions. By entering, participants agree to indemnify, defend and hold harmless The National Wildlife Federation, its respective subsidiaries, affiliates, directors, officers, employees, attorneys, agents and representatives, from any and all third party liability for any injuries, loss, claim, action, demand or damage of any kind arising from or in connection with the competition (collectively, “Losses”), including without limitation any third party claim for copyright infringement or a violation of an individual’s right to privacy and/or publicity right. The Contest is void where prohibited by law.

Each participant in the Contest (each a “Participant”) is responsible for ensuring that he or she has the right to submit them to the Contest per these rules. You agree that any and all disputes that cannot be resolved with The National Wildlife Federation, and causes of action arising out of or connected with this Contest, shall be resolved individually, without resort to any form of class action, before a court of competent jurisdiction located in Northern Virginia which court shall apply the laws of the Commonwealth of Virginia without regard for rules of conflicts of law. IN ANY SUCH DISPUTE, PARTICIPANT SHALL NOT BE ENTITLED TO ANY PUNITIVE, SPECIAL, INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES, INCLUDING WITHOUT LIMITATION ATTORNEYS’ FEES, OR ANY DAMAGES OTHER THAN PARTICIPANT’S ACTUAL OUT-OF-POCKET EXPENSES (IF ANY) ASSOCIATED WITH PARTICIPATING IN THE CONTEST. YOU HEREBY WAIVE ANY RIGHTS TO HAVE DAMAGES MULTIPLIED OR INCREASED. The Contest and the National Wildlife Federation’s Fair Climate Project website are provided “as is” without warranty of any kind, either express or implied.

The National Wildlife Federation is not responsible for any incorrect or inaccurate information, whether caused by website users or by any equipment or programming associated with or utilized in the photo competition, or by any technical or human error that may occur in the processing of submissions to the photo competition, including but not limited to any misprints or typographical errors. The National Wildlife Federation assumes no responsibility for any error, omission, interruption, deletion, defect, delay in operation or transmission, communications line failure, theft or destruction or unauthorized access to, or alteration of, entries. The National Wildlife Federation is not responsible for any problems or technical malfunction of any telephone network or lines, computer equipment, servers, providers, computer on-line systems, software, or failure of email on account of technical problems or traffic congestion on the Internet or at any website, including injury or damage to participant’s or to any other person’s computer related to or resulting from participating or uploading images or information in the photo contest. If, for any reason, the photo competition is not capable of completion as planned, including but not limited to, any reason of infection by computer virus, bugs, tampering, unauthorized intervention, fraud, technical failures or any other causes beyond the control of The National Wildlife Federation that corrupt or affect the administration, security, fairness, integrity or proper conduct of the photo competition, The National Wildlife Federation reserve the right at their sole discretion to cancel, terminate, modify or suspend the photo competition.

QUESTIONS: Questions and inquiries about contest rules can be emailed to [email protected]