Contest Rules & Regulations
Music For The Cause (“MFTC”) Songwriting Contest Rules
HOW TO ENTER:
1) Read the official Rules (below)
2) Register on the website http://www.musicforthecause.org complete the submission form, and pay a submission fee (PayPal and all major credit cards are accepted)
3) Upload a video featuring an original song (hereinafter “Submission” or “Submissions”)) (Submissions must not exceed five minutes) Videos are encouraged but other formats will be accepted.
4) Submit Submission online. For more information, please follow instructions at http://www.musicforthecause.org All genres encouraged.
CONTEST PRIZES:
GRAND PRIZE WINNER RECEIVES: $5,000 USD
SECOND PLACE RECEIVES: $1,000 USD
THIRD PLACE RECEIVES: $500 USD
2nd Annual “Music For The Cause” Songwriting Contest
Seaton, Inc., a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization, (hereinafter, “MFTC”) is looking for talented artists to participate in our community outreach program, “Music For The Cause,” which will utilize their talents to raise awareness of rare bleeding disorders throughout the mainstream community. MFTC is holding two contests simultaneously: (i) a national contest open to the general public (the “General Public Contest”) and (ii) a national contest open to the bleeding disorder community (the “Bleeding Disorder Community Contest”) (each a “Contest” and, collectively, hereinafter, the “Contests”) to find talented artists for “The Cause.”
The Bleeding Disorder Community Contest is exclusively for songwriters who suffer from bleeding disorders (including those who are carriers of a bleeding disorder) and meet the Eligibility Requirements set forth hereinafter. The Bleeding Disorder Community Contest is free to enter.
The General Public Contest is open to any songwriter who wishes to enter, so long as that song writer does not have a Bleeding Disorder and meets the Eligibility Requirements set forth hereinafter. There is a fee in order to enter the General Public Contest.
Both Contests are open to certain residents of the United States, the District of Columbia, Mexico, and Canada that meet the Eligibility Requirements (as defined below).
The grand prize winners of the Contests (Bleeding Disorder Community and General Public) (each referred to as the “Grand Prize Winner” or “Grand Prize Winners”) will each receive $5,000 USD. The contest rules (hereinafter, the “Rules”) are the official rules of the contests.
CONTEST RULES
Overview
Beginning at 12:00 a.m. Central Time ("CT") on February 15, 2019 through 11:59 p.m. CT on May 15, 2019, MFTC will accept, for both the Bleeding Disorder Community and General Public Contests, original Submissions from eligible songwriters (each, a "Songwriter" and collectively, the "Songwriters"), where, upon Submission, the Submissions will automatically be posted on http://www.musicforthecause.org (the "Website") for voting by the public, as set forth in greater detail below. The public may start voting as soon as a Songwriter enters the contest through May 15, 2019. Finalists will thereafter be chosen both by public voting (see Public Voting Phase below) and guided evaluation by MFTC Judges based on the Judging Criteria (as set forth below). Both the Bleeding Disorder Community Contest and the General Public Contest are skill-based contests; the element of chance will not be present at any stage of the Contests.
By entering the Contest, and/or making a Submission to the Contest, Songwriter shall be deemed to have consented to the Rules.
Eligibility Requirements
In addition to the other eligibility requirements set forth hereinafter (the “Eligibility Requirements”), Songwriters wishing to participate in the Bleeding Disorder Community Contest must suffer from a bleeding disorder (or be a carrier thereof) and be legal residents of the United States (including its territories), the District of Columbia, Mexico or Canada (excluding Quebec Province). Songwriters wishing to participate in the General Public Contest must be legal residents of the 50 United States (excluding Maryland and Colorado), the District of Columbia, Mexico, or Canada (excluding Quebec Province). Entry is prohibited with regard to residents of any other states or territories where prohibited by laws.
A Songwriter uploading a Submission with multiple co-writers must have all co-writers consent to participate in either Contest. For the purpose of these Contests, no co-writer or Songwriter may be subject to a current agreement with a publishing company, record label or other entity to render recording services that is currently in effect and/or have agreed to provide rights in and to musical compositions or recordings to any such company, label or entity. Any Songwriter or co-writer (of a Submission) who derives the majority of their income from songwriting, currently has a staff writing deal with a publishing company, or has ever had a song appear on any of the following charts is not eligible to participate in the Contests; Billboard, Mediabase, and/or Radio & Records (R&R).
Contestants must be 13 years of age or older. Eligible minors must obtain their parents or legal guardians' permission prior to participating.
Employees and their immediate families (spouse, parent, child, sibling and their respective spouses, regardless of where they reside or those living in the same households, whether or not related) of MFTC and its sponsors, and each of their respective parent companies, affiliates, subsidiaries, licensees, successors and assigns, officers, directors, contractors, partners, shareholders, representatives, members, agents, employees, and advertising and promotion agencies, web developers, and marketing agents (collectively the "Released Parties") are not eligible to participate in the Contest where prohibited by law. Contest is subject to all applicable federal, provincial, territorial, state and local laws.
How to Participate
Songwriters must upload and submit videos featuring their original songs on the Website. The Bleeding Disorder Community Contest is free to all contestants who meet the Eligibility Requirements set forth in the previous section.
To participate in the General Public Contest, all contestants must meet the Eligibility Requirements set forth in the previous section, and pay a Submission fee of $25 USD for each Submission. Failure to provide a Submission fee for any Submission in the General Public Contest will result in such Submission being deemed void. The Submissions fees are tax deductible as a charitable donation to the Cause.
To submit a Submission online, visit the Website and follow the instructions provided to sign-in to your MFTC account, then, follow the directions provided to complete the online registration form, and upload your Submission and accompanying lyrics sheet (all information provided by a Songwriter including Submission and lyric sheet upload shall be included in the definition of "Submission" and “Submissions”). Videos must be in .MPEG4, .MP4, .AVI, .WMV, .MPEGPS, .FLV, or.3GPP., no larger than 1024MB in file size, and no longer than five (5) minutes in length. Incomplete Submissions, including but not limited to those Submissions that do not address the requirements set forth in these Rules, shall be automatically disqualified.
Songwriter or the individual uploading the Submission represents and warrants that each Submission (including the sound recording embodying the composition) must be the original work of the Songwriter, and must not infringe upon the rights of any third party, including, without limitation, copyrights, trademarks, rights of privacy, publicity or other intellectual property or other rights of any person or entity. Prior to making a Submission, Songwriter must obtain any and all releases and consents from any and all co-writers, any songwriter and other parties necessary to permit the use, transmission, display, and exhibition of the Submission by MFTC in the manner set forth in these Rules. MFTC reserves the right to request prompt written proof of these permissions in a form acceptable to MFTC from any Songwriter at any time and, at its discretion, to disqualify any Submission they determine, in their discretion, fails to satisfy any of the above requirements.
Submission Guidelines
Submissions must comply with the following content guidelines:
Submission lyrics (hereinafter “Content”) cannot promote any activities that may appear unsafe or dangerous and shall not promote illegal drugs or weapons. Content cannot be obscene or offensive, endorse any form of hate or hate group, and must not contain racial or ethnic slurs. Content cannot defame, misrepresent or contain disparaging remarks about any third parties. Content must be an original work created by Songwriter. Content must contain lyrics in the English language. Content cannot contain any material that infringes on the intellectual property rights of any third party, such as music and/or lyrics owned or administered by any other person or entity, trademarks owned by others or advertise or promote any third-party brand or product of any kind, or contain any personal identification, such as license plate numbers, personal names, e-mail addresses or street addresses. Content cannot contain copyrighted materials owned by others (including recordings, sampling or “scratching” and other works published or used on or in websites, television, movies or similar media). Content cannot contain materials embodying the names, voices, or other indicia of, or identifying, any person, including, without limitation, celebrities and/or other public or private figures, living or dead, except as permitted in the Website’s Terms of Use or these Rules.
All submissions must be submitted by 11:59 P.M. on May 15, 2019[A1] . Any Submission deemed to be in violation of the Eligibility Requirements, at any time in MFTC’s discretion, will automatically be disqualified from moving on in the voting process (regardless as to whether such Submission has garnered any public votes up to the date of ineligibility).
PUBLIC VOTING AND MFTC JUDGING PHASE (First Round):
Public Voting Phase
Once a Submission is uploaded, such submission will thereafter be posted to the Website through May 15, 2019 for public voting (hereinafter the “Public Voting Phase”). Individuals will have the opportunity to vote for their favorite Submission(s) by clicking the "vote" button for the corresponding Submission on the website. A creation of an MFTC Website account is required to vote. Songwriters are prohibited from obtaining votes for their Submissions by any fraudulent or inappropriate means, including, without limitation, offering awards or other inducements to members of the public and/or using any websites or online forums designed to induce individuals or provide other incentives to vote for their Songwriter’s Submission(s), as determined by MFTC in its sole discretion. Use of script, macro or any automated system to vote or with the intent to impair or subvert the integrity of the voting process is prohibited and all such votes will be void. Subject to all other rules and conditions claimed herein, the three Submissions with the highest vote totals will automatically be deemed to be three (3) of the thirteen Finalists. In the event of a tie for third place, the tied Submissions will be subject to a vote by the MFTC Judges in order to determine a third-place winner, based on the Judging Criteria (as set forth below).
MFTC Voting Phase
Once the Public Voting Phase has ended, all remaining Submissions not deemed to be three (3) of the thirteen finalists via the Public Voting Phase will then move on to the MFTC Voting Phase. Members of the MFTC Board of Directors and MFTC’s advisors (the “MFTC Judges”) will review and score the remaining Submissions based equally on the following criteria: melody, composition, originality and lyrics (the "Judging Criteria"). Using the Judging Criteria, the MFTC Judges will each be assigned a proportionate share of the Finalists Submissions and will determine the top one hundred (100) Semi-Finalists.
From the one hundred (100) Submissions selected by the MFTC Judges, the MFTC Judges will collectively select seven (7) additional Submissions (based on the Judging Criteria), to add to the three (3) Public Voting Phase selections, for a total of ten (10) “Finalists”.
Judging For the Ten Finalists
The Finalists will be announced on or about June 1, 2019. Following the Public Voting Phase and MFTC Voting Phases, the ten (10) Finalists will be judged by a new panel of judges consisting of music industry professionals not affiliated with MFTC (the “Final Judges”). The Finalist Judges will review and score the Finalists’ Submissions based on the "Judging Criteria” in order to determine the grand prize, second place, and third place winners. In the event of a tie, the Submission with the highest score in the "originality" criterion will be deemed a Finalist.
FINALIST NOTIFICATION/REQUIREMENTS
Judges' and MFTC's decisions are final and binding on all matters relating to this Contest. Potential Finalists will be notified via mail, email and/or phone and will be required to complete an Affidavit of Eligibility, Liability and Publicity Release (unless prohibited by law) and any other documents required by MFTC, which must be returned within fourteen (14) business days of date appearing on Finalist notification. Without limiting the requirements contained in the foregoing documents, each Finalist must agree to a filmed interview by MFTC for MFTC’s promotional purposes and travel to the United States if outside of the United States, at Finalist’s sole cost. Return of Finalist notification as undeliverable, failure to sign and return requested documentation within the specified time period, the inability of MFTC to contact a potential Finalist within a reasonable time period or noncompliance with these Rules and/or the Website’s Terms of Use by potential Finalist will result in disqualification and, at MFTC's sole discretion, a runner-up finalist may be notified. In the event a Finalist is an eligible minor in his/her jurisdiction of residence, MFTC reserves the right to provide an award (if applicable) in the name of his/her parent or legal guardian who will be responsible for fulfilling all requirements imposed on award recipient set forth herein.
GRAND PRIZE AWARD: $5,000 USD cash prize
SECOND PLACE: $1,000 USD cash prize
THIRD PLACE AWARD: $500 USD cash prize
The winners for both the Bleeding Disorder Community and General Public Contests will be announced on or about June 16, 2019. MFTC will thereafter send the prize to the location supplied by the winning recipient, provided that the winner provide MFTC with all requested information, which typically includes, without limitation, the winner’s legal name, mailing address, email address, birth date, phone number, and in the event of prizes valued over certain monetary thresholds, a W9 and other applicable tax form(s). The winner must claim the prize within one hundred and eighty (180) days of MFTC sending the prize.
Award recipients may not substitute, assign or transfer award, but MFTC reserves the right, at its sole discretion, to substitute any award (or portion thereof) with one of comparable or greater value. Award recipients are solely responsible for all applicable federal, state and local taxes, if any, as well as any other costs and expenses associated with Submission entry, award acceptance, and use not specified herein as being provided. Winners may forfeit a prize prior to acceptance. MFTC shall not have to re-award a prize in the event of a winner forfeiture. All award details are at MFTC's sole discretion.
LICENSE/USE OF SUBMISSIONS: Entering the Contest does not transfer any ownership rights to MFTC and Songwriter (and cowriters) continue to own all rights in the Submission, including, without limitation, the underlying musical composition and sound recording. Notwithstanding the foregoing, through making a Submission, Songwriters (or the party uploading the Submission) grants MFTC a non-exclusive, worldwide, irrevocable, unlimited, royalty-free, sub-licensable right to display, distribute, dispose of, exploit, reproduce, host, transmit, publish, publicly perform, edit, adapt, perform, modify, copy, disseminate, and otherwise use the Submission, including, without limitation, the copyright in the sound recording and the underlying musical composition embodied therein and any and all ancillary and subsidiary rights therein (including, without limitation, the Songwriter’s and cowriter’s name(s), biographical information, place of residence, likeness(es), and any artwork submitted), online or in any other media now known or hereafter devised, for MFTC’s advertising, publicity, and promotion of MFTC and MFTC contests, without additional compensation and without permission or notification to Songwriter(s) (including all cowriters, band, and/or group members, if applicable) of any kind, except as prohibited by law. For the avoidance of doubt, Songwriter acknowledges and agrees that upon entering a Submission, Songwriter’s name will be publicly released as part of the dissemination of the Submission (as well as the disclosure of health information as Songwriter being an individual with a bleeding disorder condition, if applicable), associated marketing materials, and/or as identification of a winner, and without limiting the foregoing grant of rights, Songwriter grants MFTC the right to publicly disclose all of the foregoing for the purposes stated herein.
NATURE OF RELATIONSHIP
Nothing in these Rules or any other agreement with Songwriter shall be deemed to create an employment or agency relationship between MFTC and any of the Released Parties. Songwriter agrees that they shall not look to the Released Parties for any compensation, employment, and other benefits, unless to MFTC for the expressly stated prize winnings herein. Songwriter hereby acknowledges and agrees that the relationship between Songwriter and MFTC and any of its designees is not a confidential, fiduciary, or other special relationship, and that Songwriter's decision to provide a Submission does not place MFTC or any of the Released Parties in a position that is any different from the position held by members of the general public.
PUBLICITY RELEASE
Participation in this Contest constitutes permission (except where prohibited by law) to use Songwriter's names, likenesses, voices, performances, amount of award received, photographs, statements and biographical information (all at MFTC's discretion) for future advertising, publicity and other purposes relating to MFTC and this Contest in any and all media now or hereafter devised throughout the world in perpetuity, without additional compensation, notification, or permission. Notwithstanding the foregoing, nothing in this paragraph shall restrict MFTC from having a Songwriter provide an Affidavit of Eligibility, Liability and Publicity Release as otherwise set forth herein.
RELEASE OF TECHNICAL LIABILITY
MFTC and the Released Parties are not responsible for lost, late, misdirected, damaged, stolen, altered, garbled, incorrect, incomplete, delayed or undelivered votes and Submissions, all such defective correspondence being deemed void in solely MFTC’s discretion. Released Parties are also not responsible for problems uploading or downloading any Contest-related information or materials from the Website, any errors or problems associated with uploading Submissions on the Website, or for any other technical malfunctions of electronic equipment, computer online systems, servers, or providers, computer hardware or software failures, phone lines, failure of any Submission to be received by MFTC on account of technical problems, traffic, congestion on the internet or the Website, or for any other technical problems including telecommunication, miscommunication or failure, and failed, lost, delayed, incomplete, garbled or misdirected communications which may limit Songwriter's ability to participate in this Contest. MFTC and the Released Parties are not responsible for any other errors or malfunctions of any kind, whether network, printing, typographical, human or otherwise relating to or in connection with the Contest, including, without limitation, errors or malfunctions which may occur in connection with the administration of the Contest, the processing, judging or voting of Submissions, the tabulation and processing of votes, or deletion of any Submissions.
RIGHT TO TERMINATE & MODIFY
MFTC reserves the right to modify, suspend or terminate the Rules, Contest or a Submission at any time without liability to Songwriter, including, without limitation, in the event MFTC becomes infected by a computer virus or is otherwise technically impaired, and to cancel or suspend the Contest in its entirety should tampering, unauthorized intervention, fraud, technical failures or other causes corrupt the administration, security, fairness, integrity or proper play of the Contest. MFTC reserves the right at its sole discretion to disqualify any individual it finds to be tampering with the Submission process or the operation of this Contest or any website (including the Website), intending to annoy, abuse, threaten or harass any other Songwriter or User, MFTC or any of its representatives or to otherwise be acting in violation of these Rules and void all associated Submissions.
MISCELLANEOUS
In the event of a dispute regarding Submissions received from multiple users having the same e-mail account, the authorized subscriber of the e-mail account at the time of Submission will be deemed to be the Songwriter and must comply with these Rules. An authorized subscriber is the natural person who signed up for the e-mail account and/or is assigned the e-mail address by the Internet Service Provider (ISP), online service provider, or other organization responsible for assigning e-mail addresses.
CAUTION
Any attempt by a Songwriter to deliberately damage any website or undermine the legitimate operation of this Contest is a violation of criminal and civil laws. Should such an attempt be made, MFTC reserves the right to seek damages and other remedies (including attorneys' fees and costs) from any such Songwriter to the fullest extent permitted by law and to disqualify such Songwriter from the Contest. All interpretations of these rules and decisions by MFTC related to these rules are determined in MFTC’s sole discretion and shall be final.
SIMILAR SUBMISSIONS
By making a Submission, Songwriter acknowledges and agrees that MFTC may obtain many Submissions under this Contest and that such Submissions may be similar or identical in theme, idea, format or other respects to others submitted under this Contest and/or created or developed by MFTC on its own or by those working on MFTC's behalf, and/or other promotions staged and/or led by MFTC, and waive any and all claims Songwriter may have had, may have, and/or may have in the future, that any similar Submission, Submission and/or other works accepted, reviewed and/or used by MFTC (or its designees) may be similar to Songwriter's Submission. Songwriter acknowledges and agrees that MFTC does not have now, nor shall it have in the future, any duty or liability, direct or indirect, vicarious, contributory, or otherwise, with respect to the infringement or protection of any copyright in and to Songwriter's Submission.
PERSONAL DATA
Any information collected from the Contest shall be used only in a manner consistent with the consent given by the Songwriter at the time of Submission, with these Rules, and with MFTC's Privacy Policy at http://www.musicforthecause.org (such Privacy Policy and Terms of Use are incorporated herein by reference. To the extent there is a conflict of terms between these Contest rules and the foregoing, in connection with solely the applicable Contest, the rules of these Contest rules will prevail). Each Songwriter expressly agrees to the use of his/her personal information for such purpose. By participating in the Contest, Songwriters (i) agree to be bound by these Rules, including all eligibility requirements, the Privacy Policy and the Terms of Use, and (ii) agree to be bound by the decisions of MFTC, which are final and binding in all matters relating to this Contest. Failure to comply with these Rules may result in disqualification from this Contest. MFTC reserves the right to permanently disqualify any Songwriter and/or any other person it believes has intentionally violated these Rules and void all associated Submissions. The following information will be collected from each Songwriter for the purpose of administering the Contest, and may also be used by MFTC and Released Parties and their affiliates to contact the potential Finalists: Songwriter name, date of birth, mailing address and email address. The Released Parties will not sell, share or otherwise disclose information collected in any manner with third parties, other than those parties necessary to fulfill the above purposes, unless entrant has given his prior express consent to receive additional information from the Released Parties or a third party. Songwriter's information may also be transferred to countries outside of the United States. Such other countries may not have privacy laws and regulations similar to those of United States. If a Songwriter does not provide the mandatory data required during Submission registration, MFTC reserves the right to disqualify the Submission. Songwriters have a right of access to, modification and withdrawal of their personal data. Songwriters also have the right of opposition to the data collection, under certain circumstances, in accordance with applicable law. To exercise such right, an entrant may write to: Seaton, Inc., 272 Firestone Dr., Roseville CA 95678 ("Data Controller" and "Data Recipient"). The Released Parties will take all steps reasonably necessary to ensure that Songwriters' personal information is treated securely and in accordance with MFTC's Privacy Policy and these Rules, but will not otherwise take steps to ensure compliance with the applicable foreign law(s).
RELEASE OF LIABILITY
By entering the Contest, Songwriter agrees to release and hold harmless MFTC and the Released Parties from all claims, liability or damage caused or claimed to be caused, in whole or in part, directly or indirectly, in connection with participation in this Contest, or acceptance or use of any award, the administration of the Contest, the operation of any website (including the Website) or MFTC and Released Parties' use of any of the rights granted herein (including any claims arising out of the use of third party content that may be embodied in a Submission). Released Parties assume no responsibility for the conduct of any Songwriter or the responses of anyone appearing in any Submission.
ARBITRATION
Except where prohibited by law, as a condition of participating in this Contest, Songwriter agrees that (1) any and all disputes and causes of action arising out of or connected with this Contest, or any opportunities provided, shall be resolved individually, without resort to any form of class action, and exclusively by final and binding arbitration under the rules of the American Arbitration Association and held at the AAA regional office in Sacramento County, California; (2) the Federal Arbitration Act shall govern the interpretation, enforcement and all proceedings at such arbitration; and (3) judgment upon such arbitration award may be entered in any court having jurisdiction. Under no circumstances will Songwriter be permitted to obtain awards for, and Songwriter hereby waives all rights to claim, punitive, incidental or consequential damages, or any other damages, including attorneys' fees, other than Songwriter's actual bona fide and reasonable out-of-pocket expenses (i.e., costs associated with participating in this Contest), and Songwriter further waives all rights to have damages multiplied or increased.
DISPUTES
Except where prohibited by law, Songwriters agree that any and all disputes, claims and causes of action arising out of, or connected with, the Contest or any award provided shall be resolved individually, without resort to any form of class action. All issues and questions concerning the construction, validity, interpretation and enforceability of these Rules, your rights and obligations, or the rights and obligations of MFTC in connection with the Contest, shall be governed by, and construed in accordance with, the laws of the State of California, USA, without giving effect to any choice of law or conflict of law rules (whether of the State of California, USA or any other jurisdiction), which would cause the application of the laws of any jurisdiction other than the State of California, USA. Solely to the extent that this arbitration and dispute provision is deemed inapplicable, exclusive choice of law jurisdiction for any dispute shall be the laws of the State of California before the courts located in Sacramento County, California.
Some jurisdictions may require enforceability to make available to you written copies of the rules, the prize winner’s name (if applicable and a prize is not forfeited), and other similar information. If you live in such a jurisdiction, please send MFTC a written request, including your name, address, and phone number to: Seaton, Inc., 1420 E Roseville Pkwy, #140 427, Roseville, CA 95661 with return postage (unless your jurisdiction requires that you need not send return postage). Requests received by individuals whose jurisdictions do not require MFTC to provide such information, or information received by MFTC thirty (30) days after the closing date of a prize may not be honored, subject to applicable jurisdictional laws.
Seaton, Inc., 1420 E Roseville Pkwy, #140 427, Roseville, CA 95661