Email your entry to: muhammadartexpo@gmail.com
Official Rules
NO PURCHASE NECESSARY TO ENTER OR WIN. VOID WHERE PROHIBITED. ENTRY IN THIS CONTEST CONSTITUTES YOUR ACCEPTANCE OF THESE OFFICIAL RULES. THIS CONTEST IS OPEN TO ANY FREEDOM LOVER ACROSS THE WORLD. NATIONAL AND INTERNATIONAL SUBMISSIONS WELCOME.
The Muhammad Cartoon Contest (the “Contest”) is designed to encourage free people (“Entrant(s)” or “You”) to use their creativity to create their own artistic rendition of the Islamic prophet Muhammad. Judges will choose the winning entries, and prizes will be awarded in accordance with these Official Rules (the“Rules”).
1. BINDING AGREEMENT: In order to enter the Contest, you must agree to the Rules. Therefore, please read these Rules prior to entry to ensure you understand and agree. You agree that submission of an entry in the Contest constitutes agreement to these Rules. You may not submit an entry to the Contest and are not eligible to receive the prizes described in these Rules unless you agree to these Rules. These Rules form a binding legal agreement between you and AFDI with respect to the Contest.
2. ELIGIBILITY: To be eligible to enter the Contest, an Entrant must: (a) provide his or her actual name – no anonymous or pseudonymous submissions will be accepted (anonymous refers only to paperwork and accounting etc. but full names are not required for public display) single names will be accepted (b) enter the Contest freely and willingly. Minors who enter must have the written consent of a parent or legal guardian in order to be eligible to receive any prizes, as described in Section 8 of these Rules. Contest is void where prohibited by law. Employees, interns, contractors, and official office-holders of the American Freedom Defense Initiative, and its parent company, subsidiaries, affiliates, and their respective directors, officers, employees, advertising and promotion agencies, representatives, and agents (“Contest Entities”), and members of the Contest Entities’ and their immediate families (parents, siblings, children, spouses, and life partners of each, regardless of where they live) and members of the households (whether related or not) of such employees, officers and directors are ineligible to participate in this Contest.
3. SPONSOR: The Contest is sponsored by the American Freedom Defense Initiative (“AFDI” or “Sponsor”), a New York 501c3 organization with principal place of business at 1040 1st Ave. P.O. Box 121, New York, NY, 10022, USA.
4. CONTEST PERIOD: The Contest begins on February 11, 2015 at 12pm Eastern Time (ET) Zone in the United States and ends on April 5, 2015, 11:59pm Eastern Time (ET) Zone (“Contest Period”). All dates are subject to change.
5. HOW TO ENTER: NO PURCHASE NECESSARY TO ENTER OR WIN. Entries will be accepted by e-mail only. (Include your e-mail address.) Submissions must be made by the artwork’s creator. No third party submissions. No submissions by proxy. Artwork shall be original work of the entrant.
All art must be signed by the entrant. AFDI will assume that all art entered for consideration does not infringe upon the copyright of a third party. The artist shall assume all liability if an infringement claim is made.
Submit your entry to MuhammadArtExpo@gmail.com. The file format for submission is .jpg. Winning artwork will be made into posters, so a minimum of 300 DPI and 3000 pixels (either horizontally or vertically) is necessary.
However, please reduce your file size to less than 3MB when submitting your art for consideration. (AFDI will contact you for a larger file size if your art is among the top submissions according to our judges.)
AFDI reserves the right to reproduce all submissions for promotion, exhibit, fund-raising, marketing and any other use associated with the daily operations of AFDI and its subsidiaries. Entries received anonymously or pseudonymously, or, in the case of a minor, without a parent’s or legal guardian’s signature will be disqualified.
You may send as many entries as you like. To be considered for the Contest, entries must be: (i) complete (as determined by AFDI); (ii) received by April 5, 2015 11:59pm Eastern Time (ET); and (iii) in English (if any writing is included, unless it is translated). Machine or computer-generated mass entries will be disqualified. Any submission not meeting the aforementioned criteria will be disqualified. AFDI accepts no responsibility for submissions lost, delayed, damaged, defaced, or mislaid, howsoever caused. Proof of emailing does not constitute proof of entry. All entries will be deemed made by the Entrant submitted at the time of entry.
6. CARTOON REQUIREMENTS. The Cartoon and supporting statements must meet the following criteria (“Cartoon Requirements”):
- While engaging in criticism of and mockery of Muhammad and the belief system and ideology that underlies global jihad terrorism, they must not be threatening or libelous or contain any content that is inappropriate, indecent, profane, torturous, slanderous, discriminatory in any way, or that promotes the denial of human rights to any group or person, or otherwise does not comply with the theme and spirit of the Contest.
- They must not contain content, material or any element that is unlawful, or otherwise in violation of or contrary to all applicable federal, state, or local laws and regulation including the laws or regulations in any state where the Cartoon and supporting statement are created.
- They must not contain any content, material or element that displays any third party advertising, slogan, logo, trademark or otherwise indicates a sponsorship or endorsement by a third party, commercial entity or that is not within the spirit of the Contest, as determined by Sponsor, in its sole discretion.
- They must be original, unpublished works that does not contain, incorporate or otherwise use any content, material or element that is owned by a third party or entity.
- They cannot contain any content, element, or material that violates a third party’s publicity, privacy or intellectual property rights.
- The Cartoon is not the subject of any actual or threatened litigation or claim.
- The Entrant does not include any disparaging remarks relating to the Sponsor or a third party.
- The Cartoon is two-dimensional and scannable.
During the Contest Period, the Sponsor, its agents and/or the Judges (defined below) will be evaluating the Cartoons and supporting statements to ensure that they meet the Cartoon Requirements. The Sponsor reserves the right, in its sole discretion, to disqualify any Entrant who submits a Cartoon and supporting statements that does not meet the Cartoon Requirements. Incomplete entries or entries not complying with these Rules are subject to disqualification.
7. JUDGING: Each Cartoon will be evaluated and scored based on the following “Criteria”: (i) artistic merit; (ii) creativity and originality, as well as the unique and novel approach to the Cartoon; (iii) adherence to the Cartoon Requirements and these Rules.
Using the above Criteria, there will be several levels to the judging process, which are discussed below. There will be four (4) steps of judging to determine the winning Cartoon:
Step One:
- Number of Finalists selected at this level: 10
- At this step, ten (10) Finalists will be selected to advance forward in the Contest (their entries will all be displayed at the Muhammad Art Exhibit and Cartoon Contest to be held in Garland, Texas, on May 3, 2015).
Step Two:
- The AFDI Judges’ Choice
- From among the ten Finalists, a Winner will be selected by the AFDI judges. The Winner will be announced at the Muhammad Art Exhibit and Cartoon Contest to be held in Garland, Texas, on May 3, 2015. The winning artist need not be present to win.
Step Three:
- The People’s Choice
- From among the ten Finalists, a Winner will be selected by the attendees at the Muhammad Art Exhibit and Cartoon Contest to be held in Garland, Texas, on May 3, 2015. The winning artist need not be present to win.
- Notification of Winners
- All Winners will be announced at the Muhammad Art Exhibit and Cartoon Contest to be held in Garland, Texas, on May 3, 2015. The AFDI Judges’ Choice and the People’s Choice, as well as the other Finalist entries, will subsequently be published at afdi.us, pamelageller.com, and jihadwatch.org.
Tie-breaker: In the event of a tie at any level of judging, the judges will re-evaluate the tied Cartoons according to the Criteria until the tie is broken. The tied Cartoons will be put up for a re-vote amongst the judges at the respective level until the tie is broken.
Decisions of the judges are final and binding. In the event there are not enough eligible entries, not all prizes will be awarded. If a potential winner is unable for whatever reason to accept his or her prize, then AFDI reserves the right to award the prize to another entrant.
Notification of Finalists and Winners: Becoming a finalist is subject to validation and verification of eligibility and compliance with all the terms and conditions set forth in these Rules. If a potential finalist or winner is disqualified for any reason, the Cartoon that received the next highest total score will be chosen as the potential finalist or winner. The potential finalist(s) and winner(s) will be announced at the Muhammad Art Exhibit and Cartoon Contest to be held in Garland, Texas, on May 3, 2015 and notified by email. If a potential finalist/winner does not respond to the notification attempt within three (3) days from the first notification attempt, then such potential finalist/winner may be disqualified and an alternate potential finalist/winner will be selected from among all eligible entries received based on the judging Criteria described herein. With respect to notification by telephone, such notification will be deemed given when the potential finalist/winner or potential finalist/winner’s parent or guardian engages in a live conversation with Sponsor or when a message is left on the potential finalist/winner’s voicemail service or answering machine by the Sponsor, whichever occurs first. Except where prohibited by law, each potential state finalist/winner may be required to sign and return an Affidavit of Eligibility and Liability and Publicity Release and provide any additional information that may be required by Sponsor. If required, potential finalists/winners must return all such required documents via scan and email (or as otherwise instructed) within forty-eight (48) hours and via U.S. Mail within seven (7) days following attempted notification or such potential finalist/winner will be deemed to have forfeited the prize and another potential finalist/winner may be selected based on the judging Criteria described herein. In the event the potential finalist/winner is a minor, his or her parent or legal guardian must sign the documents and return them as described herein. All notification requirements, as well as other requirements within these Rules, will be strictly enforced. Determinations of Judges are final and binding. All potential finalists and the eventual winner, including their parent representatives, agree to keep the Cartoon strictly confidential between submission and the announcement of the Winners at the Muhammad Art Exhibit and Cartoon Contest to be held in Garland, Texas, on May 3, 2015, and the Cartoon’s final launch on the AFDI website.
8. PRIZES: The AFDI Judges’ Choice will receive a $10,000 prize. The Winner’s will be displayed on the afdi.us home page, as well as those of pamelageller.com and jihadwatch.org.
The People’s Choice will receive a $2,500 prize.
If the AFDI Judges’ Choice and the People’s Choice are the same, the Winner will receive $12,500.
Prizes will be delivered by check, sent via FedEx, within four (4) weeks from Sponsor’s receipt of prize acceptance documents from winners. All prizes awarded to minors will be paid in the name of the parent or legal guardian for the benefit of the child. No transfer, substitution or cash equivalent for prizes is allowed, except at Sponsor’s sole discretion. Sponsor reserves the right to substitute a prize, in whole or in part, of equal or greater monetary value if a prize cannot be awarded, in whole or in part, as described for any reason.
9. TAXES: AWARDS OF PRIZES TO POTENTIAL WINNERS ARE SUBJECT TO THE EXPRESS REQUIREMENT THAT THEY SUBMIT TO AFDI ALL DOCUMENTATION REQUESTED BY AFDI TO PERMIT IT TO COMPLY WITH ALL APPLICABLE STATE, FEDERAL AND LOCAL TAX REPORTING ALL PRIZES WILL BE NET OF ANY TAXES AFDI IS REQUIRED BY LAW TO WITHHOLD. TO THE EXTENT PERMITTED BY LAW, ALL TAXES IMPOSED ON PRIZES ARE THE SOLE RESPONSIBILITY OF THE WINNERS. In order to receive a prize, potential winners must submit tax documentation requested by AFDI or otherwise required by applicable law, to AFDI or a representative for AFDI or the relevant tax authority, all as determined by applicable law. The potential winner and finalists, and if the winner/finalist is a minor, their parents or legal guardians, are responsible for ensuring that they comply with all the applicable tax laws and filing requirements. If a potential winner fails to provide such documentation or comply with such laws, the prize may be forfeited and AFDI may, in its sole discretion, select an alternate potential winner.
10. GENERAL CONDITIONS: All federal, state and local laws and regulations apply. AFDI reserves the right to disqualify any Entrant from the Contest if, in AFDI’s sole discretion, it reasonably believes that the Entrant has attempted to undermine the legitimate operation of the Contest by cheating, deception, or other unfair playing practices or annoys, abuses, threatens or harasses any other entrants, AFDI, or the Judges. By participating, you agree to be unconditionally bound by AFDI's rules, and you represent and warrant that you meet the eligibility requirements, and you agree to accept all decisions made by AFDI regarding this contest as final and binding. Applicants are participating of their own free will, and AFDI will assume no liability for any and all negative experiences associated with an applicant’s participation in this contest.
11. INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY RIGHTS: As between AFDI and the Entrant, the Entrant retains ownership of all intellectual and industrial property rights (including moral rights) in and to the Cartoon (excluding AFDI’s rights in the AFDI logo/trademark). As a condition of entry, Entrant grants AFDI a perpetual, irrevocable, worldwide, transferable, royalty-free, and non-exclusive license to use, reproduce, adapt, modify, publish, distribute, publicly perform, create a derivative work from, and publicly display the Cartoon and the inventions depicted therein for any purpose, including display on the AFDI website, without any attribution or compensation to Entrant. Entries will not be returned. AFDI retains all rights in the AFDI products and services and entry into this Contest will in no case serve to transfer any AFDI intellectual property rights to the Entrant.
13. PRIVACY: Entrants agree and acknowledge that personal data submitted with an entry, including name, mailing address, phone number, and email address may be collected, processed, stored and otherwise used by AFDI and its affiliates for the purposes of conducting and administering the Contest. All personal information that is collected from parents, guardians, teachers, and after-school programs on behalf of Entrants is subject to AFDI’s Privacy Policy. Individuals submitting personal information in connection with the Contest have the right to request access, review, rectification or deletion of any personal data held by AFDI in connection with the Contest by writing to AFDI at the following address: AFDI, 1040 1st Ave. P.O. Box 121, New York, NY 10022.
13. PUBLICITY. By entering the Contest, Entrants agree to participate in any media or promotional activity resulting from the Contest as reasonably requested by AFDI and agree and consent to use of their name and/or likeness by AFDI. AFDI will contact Entrants in advance of any AFDI-sponsored media request for interviews.
The Cartoons may also be used for press and media purposes and Entrant agrees to waive any rights and not assert any intellectual property rights that Entrant has or may have in the Cartoon. AFDI reserves the right to publish the name and likeness of the Entrants and their Enrtries on afdi.us or through other media for publicity purposes.
14. WARRANTY AND INDEMNITY: Entrants warrant that their Cartoons are their own original work and, as such, they are the sole and exclusive owner and rights holder of the submitted Cartoon and that they have the right to submit the Cartoon in the Contest and grant all required licenses. Each Entrant agrees not to submit any Cartoon that: (a) infringes any third party proprietary rights, intellectual property rights, industrial property rights, personal or moral rights or any other rights, including without limitation, copyright, trademark, trade names, industrial designs, patent, trade secret, privacy, publicity or confidentiality obligations; or (b) otherwise violates applicable state, federal, or local law.
To the maximum extent permitted by law, Entrant indemnifies and agrees to keep indemnified Sponsor at all times from and against any liability, claims, demands, losses, damages, costs and expenses resulting from any act, default or omission of the Entrant and/or a breach of any warranty set forth herein. To the maximum extent permitted by law, Entrant agrees to defend, indemnify and hold harmless Sponsor from and against any and all claims, actions, suits or proceedings, as well as any and all losses, liabilities, damages, costs and expenses (including reasonable attorneys fees) arising out of or accruing from: (i) any Cartoon or other material uploaded or otherwise provided by Entrant that infringes any copyright, trademark, trade secret, trade dress, patent or other intellectual property right of any person or defames any person or violates their rights of publicity or privacy; (ii) any misrepresentation made by Entrant in connection with the Contest; (iii) any non-compliance by Entrant with these Rules; (iv) claims brought by persons or entities other than the parties to these Rules arising from or related to Entrant’s involvement with the Contest; (v) acceptance, possession, misuse or use of any prize or participation in any Contest-related activity or participation in the Contest; (vi) any malfunction or other problem with the Contest Site in relation to the entry and participation in the Contest by Entrant; (vii) any error in the collection, processing, or retention of entry or voting information in relation to the entry and participation in the Contest by Entrant and in the voting process by consumers; or (viii) any typographical or other error in the printing, offering or announcement of any prize or winners in relation to the entry and participation in the Contest by Entrant.
15. ELIMINATION. Any false information provided within the context of the Contest by Entrant concerning identity, mailing address, telephone number, email address, ownership of right or non-compliance with these Rules or the like may result in the immediate elimination of the entrant from the Contest.
16. INTERNET AND DISCLAIMER. AFDI is not responsible for any malfunction of afdi.us or the address used for submitting Entries that may result in any late, lost, damaged, misdirected, incomplete, illegible, undeliverable, or destroyed Cartoons due to system errors, failed, incomplete or garbled computer or other telecommunication transmission malfunctions, hardware or software failures of any kind, lost or unavailable network connections, typographical or system/human errors and failures, technical malfunction(s) of any telephone network or lines, cable connections, satellite transmissions, servers or providers, or computer equipment, traffic congestion on the Internet or at the Contest Site, or any combination thereof, including other telecommunication, cable, digital or satellite malfunctions which may limit Entrant’s/consumer’s ability to participate/vote respectively. AFDI is not responsible for the policies, actions, or inactions of others, which might prevent Entrant from entering, participating, and/or claiming a prize in this Contest. Sponsor’s failure to enforce any term of these Rules will not constitute a waiver of that or any other provision. Sponsor reserves the right to disqualify Entrants who violate the rules or interfere with this Contest in any manner. If an Entrant is disqualified, Sponsor reserves the right to terminate that Entrant’s eligibility to participate in the Contest.
17. RIGHT TO CANCEL, MODIFY OR DISQUALIFY. If for any reason the Contest is not capable of running as planned, including infection by computer virus, bugs, tampering, unauthorized intervention, fraud, technical failures, or any other causes which corrupt or affect the administration, security, fairness, integrity, or proper conduct of the Contest, AFDI reserves the right at its sole discretion to cancel, terminate, modify or suspend the Contest. AFDI further reserves the right to disqualify any Entrant who tampers with the submission process or any other part of the Contest or Contest Site. Any attempt by an Entrant to deliberately damage any web site, including the Contest Site, or undermine the legitimate operation of the Contest is a violation of criminal and civil laws and should such an attempt be made, AFDI reserves the right to seek damages from any such Entrant to the fullest extent of the applicable law.
18. NOT AN OFFER OR CONTRACT OF EMPLOYMENT: Under no circumstances shall the submission of a Cartoon into the Contest, the awarding of a prize, or anything in these Rules be construed as an offer or contract of employment with either AFDI, or the Contest Entities. Entrants acknowledge that they submitted their Cartoon voluntarily and not in confidence or in trust. Entrants acknowledge that no confidential, fiduciary, agency or other relationship or implied-in-fact contract now exists between Entrant and AFDI or the Contest Entities and that no such relationship is established by Entrant’s submission of a Cartoon under these Rules.
19. FORUM AND RECOURSE TO JUDICIAL PROCEDURES: These Rules shall be governed by, subject to, and construed in accordance with the laws of the State of New York, United States of America, excluding all conflict of law rules. If any provision(s) of these Rules are held to be invalid or unenforceable, all remaining provisions hereof will remain in full force and effect. To the extent permitted by law, the rights to litigate, seek injunctive relief or make any other recourse to judicial or any other procedure in case of disputes or claims resulting from or in connection with this Contest are hereby excluded, and Entrants expressly waive any and all such rights.
20. ARBITRATION: By entering the Contest, you agree that exclusive jurisdiction for any dispute, claim, or demand related in any way to the Contest will be decided by binding arbitration. The complainant agrees to take responsibility for all arbitration costs incurred.
22. WINNER’S LIST: You may request a list of winners after May 3, 2015 by sending a self addressed stamped envelope to:
Cartoon 4 AFDI Contest (US)
AFDI Legal Department
1040 1st Ave. PO Box 121
New York, NY 10022
Tickets:
$25: Standing Room/General Admission. Unassigned seating
$50: Assigned Table Seating
$100: Premium Admission — Premium seating, autographed Pamela Geller book and poster, photo opportunity
$250: VIP Admission — VIP seating, meet and greet cocktails with the event organizers and cartoonists; autographed copy of the winning cartoon