WHERE LEARNING BEGINS CONTEST
OFFICIAL RULES AND REGULATIONS
- NO PURCHASE NECESSARY. Contest ("Contest") open to all females who are legal residents of the United States, age 21 years or older, except employees (and their immediate families and household members) of Harpo Productions, Inc. ("Harpo") and eLearners.com, LLC ("eLearners") (collectively, the "Sponsors") and their respective parents, subsidiaries, franchisees, advertising or promotion agencies and affiliated entities. Persons who have won a prize from any of the Sponsors since June 1, 2007 are ineligible to participate. Void wherever taxed, prohibited or restricted by law. Contest is subject to all federal, state and local laws and regulations and shall be governed by Illinois law. By entering the Contest, entrants (i) agree to accept and be bound by all terms of these Official Rules and Regulations, and (ii) agree that Illinois courts have jurisdiction over any dispute or litigation arising from or relating to the Contest and that venue shall only be Chicago, IL.
- HOW TO ENTER: From 5:00 pm (CT) on Monday, October 6, 2008 until 4:59 pm (CT) on Monday, November 17, 2008 (the "Promotional Period"), Harpo will conduct a national Contest encouraging people to write an essay, no more than Four Thousand (4,000) characters in total length, on the topic "where learning begins" (the "Topic"). Using the Topic as a guideline, entrants may describe their life, education, career goals, how education will ultimately enable them to achieve their goals, any personal challenges and/or obstacles that they have had to overcome in the pursuit of getting a degree or education, and/or why online education might be the right choice for them (the "Essay"). To enter, participants must log on to the Oprah.com website, located at http://www.oprah.com/ads/elearners/elearners_sweeps.jsp, and complete and submit the online entry form pursuant to the onscreen instruction (individually, and "Entry" and collectively, the "Entries"). To be eligible, Entries must be received by 4:59 pm (CT) on Monday, November 17, 2008. All Entries must be submitted in the name of an individual person and the prize will only be awarded to the person whose name is on the winning Entry, regardless of e-mail account ownership or other circumstances. All Entries must be written in English and Entries on any other Topic shall be disqualified. Any plagiarism and/or failure to properly identify non-original material by an entrant will also result in such entrant's disqualification. Entries containing quotations or copyrighted materials which are not properly identified will be disqualified. All words in the Essay shall be counted towards the Four Thousand (4,000) characters limit. Entries that Sponsors and/or the judges deem, in their sole discretion, to be inappropriate or obscene will be deemed void. Limit one (1) Entry per person or e-mail address.
All duplicate Entries shall be deemed void. All Entries become the property of Sponsors and will not be acknowledged or returned. No mechanical reproductions, mailed Entries or facsimiles will be accepted by Sponsors and all such Entries will be deemed void. Sponsors are not responsible for misdirected, inaccurate, incomplete, lost, late, delayed, undelivered, damaged or illegible Entries, and all such Entries will be deemed void. Sponsors are also not responsible for technical, hardware or software failures of any kind, or other errors or problems which may occur in connection with or relating to the Contest, whether computer, network, technical, mechanical, typographical, human or otherwise, including, without limitation, errors or problems which may occur in connection with the administration of the Contest, the processing of Entries, the announcement of the prizes, in any Contest-related materials or that may limit prize fulfillment or a participant's ability to enter the Contest. Sponsors reserve the right, in their sole discretion, to cancel, modify or prematurely conclude the Contest should any computer virus, malfunction, fraud, tampering, unauthorized intervention or other cause beyond their control corrupt the administration, security or proper operation of the Contest. False or deceptive Entries or acts will render the entrant ineligible and Sponsors reserve the right to disqualify any participant who attempts to undermine the legitimate operation of the Contest by tampering with any Website mechanism, acting in a disruptive manner or violating these Official Rules. Any attempt by an individual to deliberately damage or undermine the legitimate operation of the Contest may be in violation of criminal and civil laws. Should such an attempt be made, Sponsors reserve the right to seek remedies and damages (including attorneys' fees) from any such participant to the fullest extent of the law, including criminal prosecution. - HOW TO WIN: One (1) winner (the "Winner") will be selected by Sponsors on or around November 20, 2008, from all eligible Entries received by the date and time specified above, based equally upon the following criteria: (i) originality/creativity, (ii) clarity/readability, and (iii) overall adherence to the Topic. The decisions of the judges will be final and binding on all participants. In the event of a tie, an additional "tie-breaker" judge, selected by Sponsors, will determine the Winner from among all such tied Entries using the judging criteria above. The odds of winning will depend on the total number of eligible Entries received during the Promotional Period. Winner will be notified by Sponsors within five (5) business days of the judges' decision via either the telephone number or e-mail address provided on his or her Entry. Winner must reply within five (5) days of notification either via email or by calling the phone number provided upon prize notification, or else an alternate winner will be selected. Winner must also meet all eligibility requirements, including the execution and return of all necessary releases and/or other documents, including an IRS Form W-9. In the event that the Contest is canceled or ended prematurely due to the reasons set forth in paragraph 2, above, Winner shall be randomly chosen by Sponsors from among all eligible Entries received as of the time of the impairment, using the judging criteria above.
- PRIZE: One (1) Winner will receive Four Thousand Five Hundred Dollars ($4,500.00). TOTAL AMV OF PRIZE (1 PRIZE): Four Thousand Five Hundred Dollars ($4,500.00). No substitution, partial acceptance or transfer of prizes permitted by Winner. Sponsors reserve the right to substitute a prize of equal or comparable value in the event a described prize, or any portion thereof, is unavailable for any reason whatsoever. Winner is solely responsible for the reporting and payment of all federal, state and local taxes incurred by acceptance and use of the prizes (or any portion thereof), if applicable. All prize details are at Sponsors' discretion.
GENERAL RULES AND REGULATIONS: By entering this Contest, entrants: (i) agree to be bound by the decisions of Sponsors which are final and binding in all matters, (ii) grant Sponsors and their designees the right, unless prohibited by law, to use their names, cities and states of residence, voices, pictures and likenesses, without compensation, notification or permission, for the purpose of advertising and publicity in any and all manner or media, now or hereafter known, throughout the world in perpetuity, (iii) represent and warrant that their Entries are their original, previously unpublished work, (iv) represent and warrant that they are not participating in the Contest in the capacity of a reporter and further represent and warrant that they will not write, blog about, publish or cause to be published any article or book about their participation therein, and (v) acknowledge and agree that Sponsors will own and administer 100% of the copyright in all Entries submitted, with the perpetual right to use such Entries without permission or compensation. Sponsors will own the Entries submitted (including the Essays and all rights embodied therein), and their designees may exploit, edit, modify, and distribute the entries and all elements of such entries, including, without limitation, the names and likenesses of any persons or locations embodied therein, in any and all media, now or hereafter known throughout the world in perpetuity without limitation at no additional notification or permission of entrants or any third party. In addition, entrants forever waive and relinquish all so-called "moral rights ("droit moral") now or hereafter recognized. Winner may be required to produce proof of identity, address and birth date, as well as sign an affidavit of eligibility, tax acknowledgment form, liability release and, except where prohibited by law, use of name and likeness releases in order to claim the prize. Such documents must be completed in full and returned within five (5) days of issuance either via facsimile or US registered mail. Failure to do so or if: (i) any prize or prize notification is returned as undeliverable, (ii) Winner declines her prize, or (iii) a potential Winner is determined to be ineligible for reason, will result in disqualification of such Winner and an alternate winner may be selected at the Sponsors' sole discretion from among all eligible Entries and based on the judging criteria stated in these Official Rules. Sponsors will use reasonable efforts to pick an alternate winner as set forth in para. 3, but in the event an alternate winner cannot be determined, the prize will not be awarded.
Sponsors and their respective parents, subsidiaries, franchisees, advertising or promotion agencies, prize providers and affiliated entities expressly disclaim any responsibility and participants agree to hold Sponsors and their respective parents, subsidiaries, franchisees, advertising or promotion agencies and affiliated entities harmless from liability for injury, disability or loss to any person or property relating to participation in this Contest (including the manner in which Winner is selected), the delivery and/or subsequent acceptance, use or misuse of any of the prizes awarded and claims based on publicity rights, defamation or invasion of privacy. Neither Sponsors nor their respective parents, subsidiaries, franchisees, advertising or promotion agencies, prize providers and affiliated entities are responsible for any loss (financial or otherwise), injury or damage to persons or property which may be caused directly or indirectly, in whole or in part, from downloading any material from the Website, regardless of whether the material was prepared by Sponsors or a third party, and regardless of whether the material is connected to the Website by a hypertext link. Sponsors and their respective parents, subsidiaries, franchisees, advertising or promotion agencies, prize providers and affiliated entities further assume no liability either for the cancellation, modification or premature conclusion of the Contest for any reason or through the acts or defaults of any company or person providing any prize. All such losses or expenses must be borne by the affected participants and/or Winner.- OFFICIAL RULES AND WINNER'S NAME REQUESTS: For a copy of the Official Rules or the Winner's Name, send a self-addressed, stamped envelope to the following address: (Please specify "Official Rules" and/or "Winner's List") "Where Learning Begins" Contest, Official Rules/Winner's List, c/o Oprah.com, Harpo Productions, 110 N. Carpenter St., Chicago, IL 60607.
- SPONSORS: This Contest is managed by Harpo, with offices at 110 N. Carpenter St., Chicago, IL 60607. eLearners is a prize sponsor only.