THE ADOBE YOUTH VOICES AWARDS
OFFICIAL RULES
Call for Entry to Young Media Makers
Adobe Youth Voices Awards recognizes the work of young media makers who inspire
change in their communities through the use of 21st century communication tools.
Eligible works must be created by full-time middle and high school students between the
ages of 13-19 and demonstrate the power of media to give voice to youth issues and
concerns. Media must have been created between 2012-2015. Participation is
completely free and does not require the use or purchase of Adobe products.
All media must be submitted by an educator through the Adobe Youth Voices Community.
Educators may register with Adobe Youth Voices Community at no cost at:
http://youthvoices.adobe.com/community. Educators who have registered with the
Community may submit eligible youth work for Contest consideration, and may access
curricula and resources for youth media-making.
OFFICIAL RULES
ELIGIBILITY: The Adobe Youth Voices Awards (“Contest”) is open to youth worldwide
who are between the ages of 13 and 19 years who are full-time students at a U.S.
middle school or high school, or the foreign equivalent, as of February 2, 2015
(“Contestants”). Proof of student status may be required. Contest is void in Puerto Rico,
the U.S. Virgin Islands, all other U.S. territories and possessions, and wherever else
restricted or prohibited by law. Contest is not open to any resident of the following
countries: Cuba, Iran, North Korea, Sudan, and Syria. U.S. export regulations prohibit
the export of goods and services to Cuba, Iran, North Korea, Sudan and Syria.
Therefore residents of these countries/regions are not eligible to participate.
Contest is sponsored by Adobe Foundation, 345 Park Avenue, San Jose, California
95110 (“Sponsor”). Employees, officers, directors, agents, representatives of Sponsor,
the legal, promotion and advertising agencies of any aforementioned entity, and their
immediate family members (defined as spouse, mother, father, sisters, brothers, sons,
daughters, uncles, aunts, nephews, nieces, grandparents and in-laws, regardless of
where they live) and those living in their household (whether or not related), and each
person or entity connected with the production or administration of the Contest, and
each parent company, affiliate, subsidiary, agent and representative of any
aforementioned entity are not eligible. This Contest is subject to all applicable federal,
state and local laws.
The Contest Submission Period begins on February 2, 2015, at 12:00 AM Pacific
Standard Time (“PST”), and ends on April 20, 2015, at 11:59 PM PST (the “Contest
Submission Period”). ALL ENTRIES MUST BE SUBMITTED DURING THE CONTEST
SUBMISSION PERIOD. By participating, Contestants agree to be bound by these
Official Rules and the decisions of the judges and/or Sponsor, which are binding and
final on matters relating to this Contest.
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You may enter as many Submissions in as many Categories as you like, but each
Submission must be separately entered. All media must have been created on or after
January 1, 2012.
HOW TO ENTER: Online Submissions Only.
(1)
CREATE YOUR SUBMISSION:
Categories. Decide which category you’d like to enter (as described below). If you’d like
to enter more than one category, you may do so, but each entry must be submitted
separately. All media must have been created on or after January 1, 2012. After you’ve
decided on a category, make your own unique video(s) or non-video submission(s)
(“Submissions”) in any of the following categories, making sure you follow the rules
provided in the section below entitled “Submission Guidelines.”
™
Video
o
o
o
o
™
Animation
Documentary
Narrative
Venture
Print
o
Visual
Required formats.
Videos must be a minimum of 1 minute and a maximum of 10 minutes in length,
including title and end credits. Video Submissions that are not in English must have
English subtitles. Videos may be uploaded to Vimeo or YouTube and shared as a link or
uploaded directly in raw video form. Raw Videos must be in .MP4/M4V files and follow
the Adobe Youth Voices program video encoding requirements set forth here:
All video files must follow the rendering requirements listed below. Files must be saved
as .MP4/M4V
.M P4/M4V files
™ Frame Size - Same as Source
™ Frame Rate 1 to 1
™ Format H. 264
™ Field Order Progressive
™ Pixel Aspect Ratio Square (1)
™ Level 3.1
™ Bitrate Encoding VBR 2 pass
™ Target Bitrate 8 Mbps
™ Maximum Bitrate 8 Mbps
™ Keyframes (every 1 sec)
Audio
™ Codec AAC
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™ Channels Stereo
™ Frequency 48kHz
™ Bitrate 256kbps
Photographs or still images must be submitted as JPEG.
Graphic Design projects must be submitted as JPEG files.
(2)
ASK AN ADOBE YOUTH VOICES COORDINATOR OR TEACHER TO SUBMIT
YOUR SUBMISSION FOR YOU:
Once you have created your media within the Submission Guidelines, an
educator registered with the Adobe Youth Voices community should submit it for you
online at: www.youthvoices.adobe.com/awards. Videos may be submitted as a raw
file, Youtube link, or Vimeo Link. Only educators who are registered with the Adobe
Youth Voices community may submit Submissions on behalf of youth contestants.
The submitter of a Submission should make sure he or she receives an UPLOAD
confirmation via email once the upload of the Submission is complete. If no email
confirmation is received, the Submission was not uploaded successfully and it has not
been entered. To report any technical problems with uploads, please visit
http://www.youthvoices.adobe.com/awards/contact/
Two Submission deadlines
First Submission
The first major deadline for submissions will be March 9, 2015. All media created prior to
2014 will be due.
Second Submission
The second major deadline will be in April 20, 2015. All media created in during the
2014-2015 school year will be due.
Project finalists will be showcased via an online exhibit on the Adobe Youth Voices
Awards website (www.youthvoices.adobe.com/awards) from May through June 2015.
Award winners will be announced on June 2015.
All contact information provided must be current, accurate and valid. Submissions must
be received no later than April 20, 2015, at 11:59 PST according to Sponsor’s time. No
other methods of delivery will be accepted. All entries received by the end of the
Submission Period that are complete and otherwise qualified will be eligible to win
(“Qualified Submissions”). Sponsor reserves the right to disqualify any Contestant it finds
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to be tampering with the entry process or the operation of the Contest or violating these
Official Rules.
Contestants retain ownership of their Submissions, but by uploading a Submission,
checking on the terms and conditions, checking and completing the NELA and Model
Release forms, each Contestant acknowledges that Sponsor has the right to use his or
her Submission.
Sponsor appreciates your willingness to grant it permission to use all of your works of
authorship and other materials that are developed in connection with the Adobe Youth
Voices program (“Materials”). By participating in this Contest, you agree to grant a
license to Sponsor, and anyone authorized by Sponsor, to use, modify, reproduce,
publicly perform and display, and distribute the Materials, in any medium of expression
existing now or developed in the future, for publicizing, showcasing, marketing and
promoting the Adobe Youth Voices program, the Sponsor, and the charitable purposes
of the Sponsor. In the event that any of the Materials are not deemed to be licensed to
the Sponsor at the time of their creation, you agree to execute the necessary documents
to license such Materials to the Sponsor.
This license is nonexclusive, worldwide, royalty-free, and fully paid. You will retain
ownership of the Materials. If the Materials contain music, your grant also includes (a)
the copyright of the musical composition, including the composition and the lyrics; (b) the
reproduction rights, including any synchronization rights, mechanical rights and/or
master rights; (c) the public and/or digital performing rights; and (d) the adaptation rights.
Sponsor agrees that it will take reasonable steps to protect the Materials to the same
extent it would protect its own materials, and the Sponsor will use Materials containing
quotes and writings in appropriate context. You in turn represent to the Sponsor that as
the sole owner of the Materials you have full rights to license the Materials to the
Sponsor without any adverse material effect to the Sponsor.
Sponsor is not responsible for incomplete, late, lost, delayed, damaged, misdirected,
incomplete, void, corrupted, garbled, illegible, or unintelligible Submissions and those
Submissions are void and will not be accepted; nor is Sponsor responsible for any
problems, bugs or malfunctions Contestants may encounter when seeking to enter their
Submissions.
SUBMISSION GUIDELINES: There are some legal limits on what you can do (see
below):
Videos must not have had internet or DVD sales.
Please, no personal attacks on anyone or any other discernable country, state or city.
No vulgarity, violence, or defamatory language.
Submissions must hold Sponsor in a positive light.
No Submission may depict harmful or illegal activity or substance, or offensive subject
matter as determined at our sole discretion.
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Submissions must also be original works of authorship. By entering the Contest, you
warrant that your Submission 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 use in your Submission without properly executed releases,
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 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 us to use the Submission online, in television media and other forms of
distribution at our discretion.
Submissions may be subject to disqualification if Sponsor reasonably believes there is
third party content – not owned by the Contestant – that may be the subject of copyright
protection. Content that may not be used without prior permission includes, but is not
limited to photographic images downloaded from public sources; drawing or images; and
music of any kind that is not in the public domain (i.e., any music produced after 1926);
voice-over material. Contestant is solely responsible for securing permission to use any
copyrighted material and may be required, upon request, to submit proof of ownership or
license to Sponsor.
Sponsor reserves the right to exclude any Submission that it believes, in its sole
discretion, doesn't meet the above criteria, at its sole discretion.
ADDITIONAL GUIDELINES FOR ALL SUBMISSIONS: All Submissions must be
original works of authorship, created by the Contestant on whose behalf the entry is
submitted. Contestants may not copy or otherwise plagiarize the Submission from any
source, nor may the Submission include third-party copyrighted material, such as music,
photographs, text, or movie snippets, without the copyright holder’s permission. If you
are using Creative Commons or other royalty free content, it is your responsibility to
review the licenses and Terms of Use under which the content is provided and use it in
compliance with those terms. Sponsor has not cleared and will not clear or certify any
content and is not responsible for these third-party websites.
Although Sponsor is not reviewing Submissions for copyright violations, if, in the sole
discretion of Sponsor, it is believed your Submission constitutes or may constitute
copyright infringement, the Submission will be disqualified. Contestant must hold all
rights to the entire Submission. Contestant must secure - and finalists will be required to
submit – a written release from any actors and/or any other Submission participant to
use their name and likeness under the terms and conditions of these Official Rules. Any
actors, music, voice-overs, or images contained in any Submission must be properly
licensed, and evidence of such may be requested by Sponsor at any time during or after
the Contest Submission Period. Failure to produce this evidence shall result in
disqualification. Contestant agrees to indemnify Sponsor against any and all claims of
infringement from any third party for any use by Sponsor of Submission. Any music or
images used in the video Submission must be an original work of authorship under U.S.
Copyright Law. Contestants must not enter a Submission that would prohibit Sponsor
from using, royalty-free, the Submission worldwide in all media in perpetuity.
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No Submission may depict any nudity, animal or plant cruelty, harmful or illegal activity
or substances, or offensive, obscene subject matter as determined in Sponsor’s sole
discretion. No Submission shall portray Sponsor in a negative light. Please, no personal
attacks on anyone. Sponsor reserves the right to exclude any Submission that it believes
doesn't meet the above criteria, at its sole discretion.
JUDGING: Judging will be completed in two (2) rounds. All entries will be prescreened
to insure the entries have correctly met the Submission Guidelines and meet with
Sponsor’s general standards and practices prior to any judging (“Qualified
Submissions”).
At any time before, during or after the Contest Period, Sponsor may, in its discretion,
choose to post or distribute one or more Submissions, the creator’s name and profile
information online (including Sponsor’s websites, Facebook pages, Twitter feeds,
YouTube channels and third-party websites) for promotional and entertainment purposes
only. Posting of this/these Submission(s) will not mean that said Submissions are eligible
to win or are from a Selected Contestant (defined below). Contestants understand that
users of these sites may share, comment on (including negatively) and re-post their
Submissions. Any requests by Contestants to have a Submission removed from
consideration will be accommodated to the extent practically possible. Sponsor is not
responsible for third party re-posting of Submissions.
Programming Round. On or about April 20th–May 11th (“Award Finalists Selection”),
Qualified Submissions in each category will be reviewed and scored, on a 50-point
scale, by a panel of qualified judges convened by Sponsor. Qualified Submissions will
be judged according to the following criteria:
™ Production Quality (10 points) – How well did the production quality support the
piece? Does it convey originality?
™ Creativity (10 points)- Were creative techniques used by the Contestant to
convey their message?
™ Style (10 points) –Does the media piece demonstrate imagination to
communicate their idea?
™ Story (10 points)- Does the story support the message of addressing critical
issues?
™ Message (10 points) – Does the piece have a clear message to address critical
issues and effect positive change, both locally and globally?
™ Changemaking (10 points) – Does the piece have a clear message of how to
create change or elements of changemaking
Ten (10) projects per category will be selected as finalists (“Award Finalists”).
In the event of a tie, entries will be re-scored.
™
First and Second Place Category Prize Round. On or about May 11th – June
15th (“Award Winners Selection”), the judges will review and score the Award
Finalist Submissions on a 60-point scale using the criteria described above under
“Programming Round.” The two (2) highest scoring in each category will be
deemed 1st and 2nd place winners, respectively (all such category winners will
be referred to in these Rules as "Award Winners" or “Selected Contestants”).
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Award Winners will be announced on June 22nd on the Adobe Youth Voices Awards
website (www.youthvoices.adobe.com/awards). Selected eligible Contestants will
receive prizes (“Prizes”) as described at: http://staging.youthvoices.adobe.com/awards/
prizes.
Award Winners will be notified by phone or e-mail on or about June 22 – July 10 and will
be required to respond (as directed) to notification within forty-eight (48) hours of
attempted notification. The failure to respond timely to the notification may result in
forfeiture of the Prizes; and, in such case, Sponsor may choose the next highest scoring
entry from among the remaining eligible entries. Selected Contestants also may be sent
an affidavit of eligibility / liability / publicity release (“Release”). Unless restricted by law,
each Selected Contestant will be required to complete and return the Release within
forty-eight (48) hours of the date notice is sent.
Audience Choice Awards. On May 11th – June 22nd, all Selected Contestants
Submissions will be debuted on the Adobe Youth Voices Awards site, and the public
will be invited to view and vote for their favorite Submission. The Submission with the
most votes, as determined by Sponsor in its sole discretion, will win the “Audience
Choice” Award.
In the event of a tie for the Audience Choice Award, the tying entries will be re-judged by
panel of qualified judges and an Audience Choice Award winner determined.
LICENSE: As a condition of receiving any prize, Sponsor shall retain a perpetual nonexclusive license to use the Submission in any and all media throughout the world, in
perpetuity, for any purpose whatsoever, without any additional compensation, the term
of which shall be the entire life of the copyright. Should any Contestant be unwilling or
otherwise unable to enter into license, or provide permissions and or releases or
otherwise cannot accept or receive the prize for any reason, the Contestant with the next
highest score will be chosen from the remaining entries until one who is able to meet all
requirements can be selected. All potential prize winners must provide Sponsor with all
signatures on required paperwork and return all documents in a timely manner as
required pursuant to these Official Rules in order to be eligible to receive the prize.
Contestants may not sell, assign or transfer any of their rights in their Submissions under
these Official Rules.
CONTESTANTS WILL NOT BE SPECIFICALLY PAID FOR THEIR SUBMISSIONS or
for granting Sponsor any of these rights.
While Sponsor will seek to post Submissions in the form as provided at the time of entry,
all Contestants agree that due to technical limitations, Submissions may be altered from
their original form and that Sponsor reserves the right to re-shoot, edit or modify the
Submission in its sole discretion, including replacing any voiceover, soundtrack or music
or adding its logo or other trademarks. Sponsor may post Submissions in any order
or sequence, with or without commentary, and may select an excerpt of a
Submission to serve as a thumbnail in its sole discretion.
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PRIZES:
Five (5) First Place Prizes: If eligible under these Official Rules, up to five (5) First Place
Award Winners, one (1) in each of the Animation, Documentary, Narrative, Visual, and
Venture categories, will each receive the following prizes:
Three (3) Adobe Creative Cloud Licenses
3 Samsung Tablets
Cash grant to support a non-profit of students choice
Adobe Creative Cloud licenses for individual students (Up to 5 per category, per project)
Five (5) Second Place Prizes: If eligible under these Official Rules, up to Five (5)
Second Place Award Winners, one (1) in each of the Animation, Documentary,
Narrative, Venture, Visual categories, will each receive the following prizes:
Two (2) Adobe Creative Cloud Licenses
2 Samsung Tablets
Cash grant to support a non-profit of students choice
Adobe Creative Cloud licenses for individual students (Up to 5 per category, per project)
Five (5) Audience Choice Prizes: If eligible under these Official Rules, up to Five (5)
Audience Choice Contestants, one (1) in each of the Animation, Documentary,
Narrative, Visual, and Venture categories will receive the following prizes, respectively:
One (1) Adobe Creative Cloud License
1 Samsung Tablet
Cash grant to support a non-profit of students choice
Adobe Creative Cloud licenses for individual students (Up to 5 per category, per project)
All winners will receive an opportunity to be eligible for application of the Adobe Youth
Voices Scholarship 2016. Venture Category winners will receive mentorship from Ashoka’s
Youth Venture.
For all prizes, all federal, state and local taxes and other expenses in connection with the
Prizes are the sole responsibility of the Selected Contestant. Selected Contestants are
solely responsible for any other unspecified expenses related to their Prizes. All
activities related to the Prizes are at the Selected Contestants’ own risk and subject to
applicable restrictions. Selected Contestants not entitled to any surplus between actual
retail value of the Prizes and stated ARV and any difference between stated ARV and
actual value of the Prizes will not be awarded. No substitution, transfer, or cash
redemption of any Prize will be provided, provided however that Sponsor reserves the
right to substitute a
Prize with another prize of equal or greater value should the
advertised Prize become unavailable for any reason. In the event of noncompliance with
the foregoing requirements or if Prize notification is returned as undeliverable, Prize will
be forfeited and, at Sponsor’s discretion, an alternate Selected Contestant will be
selected. Prizes will be delivered by U.S. Mail or carrier (i.e., FEDEX, UPS), within
Sponsor’s sole discretion, to the address provided by the Selected Contestant.
Sponsor is not responsible for lost, misdirected or undelivered Prizes.
CONDITIONS: Contest is subject to these Official Rules. By participating, Contestants
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agree: (i) to be bound by these complete Official Rules and the decisions of Sponsor
which shall be final and binding; and (ii) to waive any right to claim ambiguity in the
Contest or these Official Rules, except where prohibited by law. By accepting a Prize
Selected Contestant agrees to release Sponsor from any and all liability, loss or damage
arising from or in connection with awarding, receipt and/or use or misuse of Prize or
participation in any prize-related activities. Sponsor shall not be liable for: (i) telephone
system, telephone or computer hardware, software or other technical or computer
malfunctions, lost connections, disconnections, delays or transmission errors; (ii) data
corruption, theft, destruction, unauthorized access to or alteration of entry or other
materials; (iii) any injuries, losses or damages of any kind, including death caused by the
prize or resulting from acceptance, possession or use of a prize, or from participation in
the Contest; or (iv) any printing, typographical, administrative or technological errors in
any materials associated with the Contest. Sponsor disclaims any liability for damage to
any computer system resulting from participating in, or accessing or downloading
information in connection with this Contest. Sponsor reserves the right to cancel or
suspend the Contest, in its sole discretion, should it receive fewer than 40 entries, or
receive no entries that have a judged score above 10 points, or due to circumstances
beyond its control, including natural disasters. Submissions will not be returned and may
be destroyed, but are still subject to the license to Sponsor contained herein. Sponsor
may prohibit an entrant from participating in the Contest or winning a Prize if, in its sole
discretion, it determines such entrant is attempting to undermine the legitimate operation of
the Contest by cheating, deception, or any other unfair playing practices of intending to
annoy, abuse, threaten, undermine or harass any other Contestants or Sponsor
representatives. The internal laws of the State of California will govern disputes regarding
these Official Rules and/or this Contest.
Sponsor is not responsible and shall not be held liable, and Submissions may be
disqualified and may not be considered for any Prize, should such Submission be
removed from any third-party video hosting site, such as YouTube, for any reason
(including without limitation DMCA take-down), or should such Submission be
unavailable for any reason during the Audience Choice Award voting period.
Sponsor reserves the right, in its sole discretion, to cancel, modify or suspend the
Contest should a virus, bug, computer problem, unauthorized intervention or other
causes beyond Sponsor’s control, corrupt the administration, security or proper play of
the Contest. Use of automated entry devices or programs is prohibited. Any attempts to
access the site, enter the Contest or increase votes or views via a bot script, device or
brute-force attack will result in disqualification, including that IP address becoming
ineligible for the entire Contest.
CAUTION: ANY ATTEMPT TO DELIBERATELY DAMAGE OR UNDERMINE THE
LEGITIMATE OPERATION OF THE CONTEST MAY BE IN VIOLATION OF CRIMINAL
AND CIVIL LAWS AND WILL RESULT IN DISQUALIFICATION FROM
PARTICIPATION IN THE CONTEST. SHOULD SUCH AN ATTEMPT BE MADE,
SPONSOR RESERVES THE RIGHT TO SEEK REMEDIES AND DAMAGES
(INCLUDING ATTORNEY FEES) TO THE FULLEST EXTENT OF THE LAW,
INCLUDING CRIMINAL PROSECUTION.
PUBLICITY: Sponsor reserves the right to use the Submissions for publicity purposes
prior to, during, or after the Contest end date, in any media, and to use the name,
likeness, hometown name, of any Contestant, including all or part of Contestants’
Submissions throughout the world, in perpetuity, without any compensation or prior
review unless specifically prohibited by law. Taxes, if any, are the sole responsibility of
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Selected Contestant, and Contestants may be issued an IRS Form 1099 for the ARV of
any awarded Prize.
WAIVER OF JURY TRIAL: Except as prohibited by applicable law and as a condition of
participating in this Contest, each Contestant hereby irrevocably and perpetually waives
any right s/he may have to a trial by jury in respect of any litigation directly or indirectly
arising out of, under or in connection with this contest, any document or agreement
entered into in connection herewith, any prize available in connection herewith, and any
of the transactions contemplated hereby or thereby.
PRIVACY: All personal information collected by Sponsor will be used for administration
of the Contest. In addition, entrants may receive email correspondence from, or on
behalf of Sponsor subject to Sponsor’s privacy policy. Sponsor uses reasonable
commercial efforts to comply with Federal CAN-SPAM guidelines, and entrants may
subsequently opt-out of receiving further emails by following the opt-out instructions
contained in the email. Any questions regarding privacy matters should be directed to
the address set out below. Please refer to Sponsor’s privacy policy located at
http://preview.youthvoices.adobe.com/legal/privacy/ for important information regarding
the collection, use and disclosure of personal information by Sponsor
OFFICIAL RULES and WINNERS LIST: For a copy of these Official Rules or of the
winner(s), send your request by email to: [email protected]. Request must be received
by [June 22, 2015].
© 2015 Adobe Foundation. All rights reserved.
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