Submission Guidelines and Rules

The Environment Is in You: A Student Photography and Original Illustration Contest

Submission Guidelines

A. To enter this skill-based contest, students will take a photograph or create an original illustration that documents the fragility, hope, and future of our planet’s ecosystem due to climate change.

B. Visit the contest page for full details.

C. To learn more about the contest, which is inspired by the work of writers Linda Hogan, Robert Hass, Wendell Berry, and Dara McAnulty, please visit the contest page.

Rules

No purchase necessary to enter or win. Void where prohibited. Entry in this skill-based contest constitutes your acceptance of these official rules.

  1. Contest Period: Global Oneness Project’s The Environment Is in You: A Student Photography and Original Illustration Contest (the “Contest”) begins November 5, 2021, and ends May 5, 2022, at 11:59 p.m. Pacific Standard Time (the “Contest Period”).
  2. Sponsor: This Contest is sponsored by Global Oneness Project LLC, a California limited liability company, with the principal place of business at PO Box 1164, Inverness, CA 94937 (the “Sponsor”).
  3. Announcement of the Winners: The winners and the finalists will be announced on May 26, 2022, on Sponsor’s website www.globalonenessproject.org.
  4. Social Media Compliance: This Contest is in no way sponsored, endorsed, administered by, or associated with Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, or any other social media platform where the Sponsor may promote this Contest.
  5. Eligibility: CONTEST IS VOID OUTSIDE THE ELIGIBILITY AREA AND WHERE PROHIBITED OR RESTRICTED BY LAW. This Contest is open to anyone who fulfills all the following criterion (the “Contestant,” or “you”), which requires:
    1. Contestant should be currently enrolled in school;
    2. Any Contestant under the age of 18 should have parents’ or legal guardian’s permission to enter into this Contest (Download the permission note, the “Parental Permission Note”); and
    3. Contestant should be either:
      1. Age 13 and over and a currently lawful U.S. resident living in the 50 U.S. States and District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands, U.S. Military installation in foreign countries, and all other U.S. territories and possessions, EXCLUDING where restricted or prohibited by law, or
      2. Age 16 and over and a currently lawful resident of any member state of the European Economic Area (the “EEA”), Canada (excluding Quebec), Switzerland, Australia, New Zealand, the United Kingdom, Russia, India, Mexico, South Korea, Japan, or any other jurisdiction that does not prohibit the conduct of, or their participation in, this skill-based contest, (collectively with Section 5(c)(i), the “Eligibility Area”).
    4. Directors, officers and employees of Global Oneness Project and its affiliates, and their family members, are not eligible to enter.
  6. How To Enter: NO PURCHASE NECESSARY TO ENTER OR WIN THIS SKILL-BASED CONTEST.
    1. To enter the Contest, please visit Contest website during the Contest Period and follow the instructions that appear on that Contest Site.
    2. All submissions will be made using the Submittable platform.
    3. Participants 18 years of age and parents of students under age 18 must read and agree to the Submission Guidelines and Rules as well as our Terms of Service. 
  7. What to Enter:
    1. Your complete entry will contain the following (the “Entry”), which reflects Contestant’s execution of Contest Theme – “The Environment Is in You” (the “Theme”):
      1. One photograph or original illustration that is a response to one of the excerpts (see contest page) by Linda Hogan, Robert Hass, Wendell Berry, or Dara McAnulty. 
      2. An artist's statement (a minimum of 100 words and a max of 600)  that responds to at least two of the following questions (the “Response”):
        1. How is your artwork a “love story” to the planet? 
        2. In what ways has your local ecosystem changed in the last few years? How might your artwork document that story?
        3.  How might your artwork document your feelings about climate change? In what ways might the environment shape your identity?
        4. In what ways has the COVID-19 pandemic revealed new ways of seeing climate change? How might you capture our earth in a time of ecological crisis? 
        5. What would you like your artwork to communicate to your peers, community, or the world?  
      3. The Release Forms (as defined below).
    2. A Contestant can submit only one Entry, which means one Photograph OR Original Illustration and one Response per Contestant.
    3. The Photograph or Illustration and the Response should meet the Photograph Requirements, described below.
    4. The Photograph should be between one and five megabytes and in JPEG image format. The photographs should not be a photo collage or photoshopped image. Please do not use filter effects.
    5. Entries received without Parental Permission Note and/or Photo Subject Release (if applicable) (together, “Release Forms”) will be disqualified.
    6. Any submission not meeting the aforementioned criteria will be disqualified. Sponsor accepts no responsibility for lost, delayed, damaged, defaced, or mislaid submissions howsoever caused.
  8. Photograph or Illustration Requirements:
    1. The Photograph and the Response must meet the following criteria (“Photograph Requirements”):
      1. They must not be derogatory, offensive, threatening, defamatory, disparaging, libelous or contain any content that is inappropriate, indecent, sexual, profane, tortuous, slanderous, discriminatory in any way, or promotes hatred or harm against any group or person, or otherwise does not comply with the Theme and spirit of the Contest.
      2. They must not contain content, material, or any element that is unlawful, or otherwise in violation of or contrary to any applicable federal, state, or local law or regulation including the laws or regulations in any state or country where the Photograph or Illustration and the Response are created.
      3. They must not contain any content, material or element that displays any third party advertising, slogan, logo, trademark, or that might suggest or indicate 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.
      4. They must be original and unpublished works.
      5. They cannot contain any content, element, or material that violates a third party's publicity, privacy or intellectual property rights. See Section 9 below if any person appears in your Photograph.
      6. They must not be the subject of any actual or threatened litigation or claim.
      7. They must not include any disparaging remarks relating to Sponsor or any third party.
      8. The submitted Photograph or Illustration must be two-dimensional and scannable (e.g., no videos or GIFs).
      9. By submitting an Entry, you understand that if your Entry is deemed to be a winner, it will be posted and distributed in various media and any such posting/distribution will be deemed made at the direction of the Contestant within the meaning of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act and the Communications Decency Act (of the U.S.).
    2. During the Contest Period, the Sponsor, its agents and/or the Judges (defined below) will be evaluating the Photograph or Illustration and Response to ensure that they meet the Photograph and Illustration Requirements. The Sponsor reserves the right, in its sole discretion, to disqualify any Contestant who submits a Photograph, Illustration or Response that does not meet the Photograph Requirements. Incomplete entries or entries not complying with these rules are subject to disqualification.
  9. CONTESTANT LICENSES/RELEASES: If the photograph contains any material or elements that are not owned by the Contestant and/or which are subject to the rights of third parties, and/or if any persons appear in the photograph, the Contestant is responsible for obtaining, prior to submission of the photograph, any and all releases and consents necessary to permit the exhibition and use of the photograph in the manner set forth in these rules without additional compensation (the “Photo Subject Release”). Click here to download a sample of Photo Subject Release. If any person appearing in any photograph is under the age of majority in their jurisdiction of residence, the signature of a parent or legal guardian is required on each release.
  10. JUDGING: The eligible Entries will be judged by a qualified panel consisting of professional filmmakers and photographers, and authorized personnel from the Sponsor (collectively, the “Judges”). The eligible Entries will be judged on creativity, photographic quality, and execution of the Theme, as stated in Section 7 of these rules. The Judges will narrow the entries to twenty (20) finalists and will select ten (10) winners from the finalists, subject to increase if there is a tiebreaker. In the event of the tiebreaker, all the finalists involved in the tiebreaker will be adjudged winners. All decisions of the Judges are final and not subject to appeal.
  11. PRIZES: Winners will be awarded 200 USD each. The time and manner of the prize distribution will be provided to winners in the prize acceptance documents but will not be earlier than two (2) weeks from Sponsor’s receipt of prize acceptance documents from winners. Note: Prize monies have no strings attached. Global Oneness Project neither imposes any restrictions on how the winners spend the money nor will enforce reporting obligations. Prize monies will be given through applicable e-payment platform.
  12. WINNERS’ NOTIFICATION AND VERIFICATION: The winners and the finalists will be informed in writing via the email address provided in their Entries.
  13. INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY RIGHTS: As between Sponsor and the Contestant, the Contestant retains ownership of all intellectual and industrial property rights (including moral rights) in and to the Photograph or Illustration and the Response (excluding Sponsor’s rights in Sponsor’s logo/trademark). As a condition of participating in the Contest, Contestant grants Sponsor 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 Photograph for any purpose, including display on the Sponsor’s website, or in any media now or hereafter known, without any attribution or compensation to Contestant. Entries will not be returned. Sponsor retains all rights in Sponsor’s products and services and entry into this Contest will in no case serve to transfer any of Sponsor’s intellectual property rights to the Contestant.
  14. TAXES: TO THE EXTENT PERMITTED BY LAW, ALL TAXES IMPOSED ON PRIZES ARE THE SOLE RESPONSIBILITY OF THE WINNERS.
  15. GENERAL CONDITIONS: All federal, state, and local laws and regulations apply. Sponsor reserves the right to disqualify any Contestant from the Contest if, in Sponsor’s sole discretion, it reasonably believes that the Contestant 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 Contestants, Sponsor, or the Judges.
  16. PRIVACY: Contestants agree and acknowledge that personal information submitted with an entry, including name, mailing address, phone number, and email address may be collected, processed, stored, and otherwise used by Sponsor and its affiliates for the purposes of conducting and administering the Contest. All personal information that is collected from parents, guardians, and teachers on behalf of Contestants is subject to Sponsor’s Privacy Policy, located at: https://www.globalonenessproject.org/privacy-policy. Individuals submitting personal information in connection with the Contest have the right to request access, review, rectification or deletion of any personal information held by Sponsor in connection with the Contest by writing to Sponsor at the following address:
    Global Oneness Project LLC
    ATTN: Privacy
    P.O. Box 1164
    Inverness, California 94937
  17. PUBLICITY: By entering the Contest, Contestants agree to participate in any media or promotional activity resulting from the Contest as reasonably requested by Sponsor at Sponsor’s expense and agree and consent to use of their name and/or likeness by Sponsor. Sponsor will contact Contestants in advance of any Sponsor-sponsored media request for interviews. Photographs, Illustrations and Responses may also be used for press and media purposes and Contestant agrees to waive any rights and not assert any intellectual property rights that Contestant has or may have in the Photographs and Responses. Sponsor reserves the right to publish the name and likeness of the Contestants, the finalists, and the winners on the sponsor’s website www.globalonenessproject.org or through other media for publicity purposes.
  18. ELIMINATION: Any false information provided within the context of the Contest by Contestant 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 Contestant from the Contest. Sponsor reserves the right to disqualify Contestants who violate the rules or interfere with this Contest in any manner. If a Contestant is disqualified, Sponsor reserves the right to terminate that Contestant’s eligibility to participate in the Contest
  19. INTERNET AND DISCLAIMER: Sponsor is not responsible for any malfunction of the entire Contest Site or any late, lost, damaged, misdirected, incomplete, illegible, undeliverable, or destroyed Photographs or Illustrations and Responses or votes 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.
  20. 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, Sponsor reserves the right at its sole discretion to cancel, terminate, modify or suspend the Contest. Sponsor further reserves the right to disqualify any Contestant who tampers with the submission process or any other part of the Contest or Contest Site. Any attempt by a Contestant to deliberately damage any website, 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, Sponsor reserves the right to seek damages from any such Contestant to the fullest extent of the applicable law.
  21. 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 California, United States of America, excluding all conflict of law rules. If any provision(s) of these rules is 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 Contestant expressly waives any and all such rights.