Terms and Conditions for Contests of jovoto Inc.
Contests are regularly organized on the jovoto Platform, in which participating Users registered with jovoto can win cash and material prizes which are either sponsored by third-party companies or by jovoto (hereinafter referred to as ‘Contests’). The operator of the contest which is the subject matter of these Terms and Conditions is jovoto, Inc. 1220 Broadway, Suite 901, New York, NY 10001 (hereinafter referred to as jovoto). The following Terms and Conditions for Contests (“Terms”) shall apply exclusively and set forth the basic rules for participation in the Contest and for all legal transactions pertaining thereto between the User who participates in a Contest and jovoto. In so far as there is a conflict between these Terms and the General Terms and Conditions of Use of the jovoto.com platform to which User’s agree during registration, these Terms shall apply. jovoto reserves the right to suspend, disable or terminate the relationship with Users who violate these Terms.
Contests
By submitting an Idea in a Contest, User agrees to these Terms and, depending upon the terms set forth in the Contest Brief setting forth whether licensing is applicable to the Contest, contemporaneously offers to license the Idea to third parties on the terms and conditions applicable to that particular Contest. Further details can be found in the section “Selling Ideas to Third Parties.”
jovoto publishes specific rules for each Contest (hereinafter referred to as a (“Briefing”), on behalf of the company sponsoring the Contest. The Briefing sets forth the basic terms and conditions of the Contest (e.g. topic, start and end of the Contest, prizes to be won, etc.). If the User violates the terms of the Briefing, they may be excluded from the Contest or even the Platform, in the sole discretion of jovoto.
Users may submit more than one Idea in a Contest unless the terms of the Briefing set a limit. Different versions of the User’s same Idea may be counted as a single Idea.
Depending on the terms of the Briefing, certain Contests may use a jury or votes cast by the jovoto community to determine the ranking of Ideas and which Ideas win the prizes offered. Some Contests may award prizes to both the jury selected Ideas and the community selected Ideas.
Generally, Users may rate Ideas using a rating system. The relevant provisions of the General Terms and Conditions of Use apply. User ratings are processed by an algorithm that seeks to ensure fair ratings. The Idea that achieves the highest overall rating wins the Contest. Ratings may be submitted as soon as the first Idea has been published on the platform for a Contest. Users may submit ratings until the cut-off date specified in the Briefing (hereinafter referred to as “Rating Deadline”). Throughout the course of a Contest and after the Rating Deadline jovoto monitors whether there are any indications of misuse of the rating function. If no misuse is discovered, the Contest will be validated and winners will be published on the platform. In the event misuse of the rating function is discovered, jovoto reserves the right to invalidate the ratings of the Users in question or, in extreme cases, invalidate the results of the entire Contest, in which case no prizes will be awarded. jovoto will publicize and give reasons for its decision on the platform.
Throughout the term of a Contest, Users may comment upon Ideas. Rights to comments submitted by Users are governed by the terms of an open content license in compliance with the laws of Fair Use.
At the conclusion of a valid Contest, jovoto will contact the winner or winners. Prior to awarding the prizes associated with winning, winners are required to provide data such as legal name, address and bank account information. jovoto will authenticate the accuracy of the data supplied by the winner. In addition to the forgoing, winners may be required to provide additional documents (for example, proof of identification) and execute documents required by the tax authorities in their jurisdiction. ALL FEDERAL, STATE AND LOCAL TAXES ASSOCIATED WITH THE RECEIPT OR USE OF ANY PRIZES ARE THE SOLE RESPONSIBILITY OF THE WINNERS.
Prize money is paid through PayPal. If winner does not have a PayPal account, money may be sent by means of a bank transfer. Costs associated with a bank transfer are borne by the winner and deducted from the prize money.
Users who submit Ideas pursuant to a Contest grant jovoto the non-exclusive rights of use to the Idea, including the creative elements therein, as well as related Users’ comments and User’s work samples, to the extent necessary to operate the Contest and operate the jovoto site.
User grants jovoto the right to publicize the Ideas and User’s work samples as well as the right to publish same on websites of third-party providers. User will not receive any remuneration in cash for granting the aforementioned rights of use to jovoto. As consideration for granting the foregoing rights, jovoto gives User the opportunity to sell their Ideas to third parties and participate in Contests. The sufficiency of the consideration is hereby acknowledged and agreed.
Selling Ideas to Third Parties
Some Contests are created with the purpose of licensing Ideas to third parties. Details of licensing requirements are set forth in the Contest Brief. In the event that third party licensing is an aspect of a particular Contest these additional terms apply.
By submitting an Idea in a Contest, User contemporaneously offers to license/sell the Idea to third parties on terms that are published in the Briefing.
The terms of sale are subject to a predefined price system set forth in the Briefing, based upon the rights to be sold. If a potential buyer for a specific Idea contacts jovoto to license a particular Idea, the User’s offer is accepted by the buyer (hereinafter referred to as ‘Customer’) on the terms of the licence agreement which can be accessed here (Sample Licence Agreement) and is listed below. For this purpose, User authorizes jovoto to accept Customer’s confirmation of acceptance to buy the Idea. Upon receipt of the Customer’s confirmation of acceptance jovoto will notify User. Upon notice that their Idea has been sold, User accesses the Platform and provides the required information to receive the payment. Upon receipt of Customer’s payment the contract for the purchase of the Idea is effectuated.
The offer for the license/sale of the Idea includes the offer to grant rights of use to copyright, design, patent and ancillary copyright-protected works (hereinafter referred to as the ‘Works’), if and insofar as such Works are components of the Idea. If the Customer licenses the Idea, they acquire the complete and, subject only to any previously granted open content licenses, sole use and right to exploit the Idea. The rights granted thereunder include User’s Idea as a whole and any Works that are part of the Idea per se. If the Idea has been combined with protected material of third parties, or is a joint work, it is the responsibility of the User to obtain the consents necessary to convey the rights to the Idea as contemplated by the Customer license agreement. The Idea may remain visible on the Platform after its sale to the Customer, but will be marked as “SOLD”.
The Customer’s confirmation of acceptance (discussed below) also covers the confirmation of acceptance with regard to the offer to grant the rights of use. The remuneration for granting the rights of use is included in the fee payable by the Customer according to the price system.
The contractual relationship with the Customer is solely between the User and the Customer. As regards the contractual offer, jovoto merely serves as an agent for the offer declaration embodied in User’s submission of the Idea by providing the technical platform. As regards the Customer’s confirmation of acceptance, jovoto is the receiving representative.
Once the Customer’s confirmation of acceptance has been received by jovoto, we shall notify the User thereof without delay and inform them of the Customer’s identity and its contact data. User is obliged to provide their legal identity, address and bank account information. jovoto has the right to confirm the accuracy of said data. In addition, jovoto may demand that User provide legal documents (e.g. personal ID card) and any documents required by the tax authorities as they relate to the sale. ALL FEDERAL, STATE AND LOCAL TAXES ASSOCIATED WITH THE RECEIPT OF REVENUE FROM THE AFOREDESCRIBED TRANSACTION WITH CUSTOMER ARE THE SOLE RESPONSIBILITY OF THE USER.
In the event User does not respond to the aforestated notice of sale, User authorizes jovoto to take receipt of the Customer’s payment and conclude the agreement with Customer. jovoto shall pay the appropriate amount to the User via PayPal. If User does not have a PayPal account, payment may be made by means of a bank transfer to the account specified by User for this transaction. Costs associated with a bank transfer are borne by the User and deducted from the payment.
Unless User has concluded an agreement with Customer as set forth above, or the terms of a particular Contest Briefing restrict User’s rights as to submissions; User is free to offer the Idea to third-parties. A license/sale hereunder grants the sole rights of use to the Customer, which excludes any other person, including the User, from any further use. Exceptions thereto are the prior grant of non exclusive rights of use, such as open content licenses.
Restricted Contests
Restricted Contests require confidentiality. It is not allowed to disclose the briefing, parts of the briefing or any further information that is provided in the briefing to a third party or to use it after the contest terminates. As a precondition to participate in certain contests, jovoto may require the User to sign a non-disclosure agreement.
Copyright Infringement
Copyright owners or their agents may notify jovoto that an Idea or its components infringe upon their rights. Said notice shall be in writing, describe the alleged infringing material, and offer evidence that the notifying party holds said copyright, be truthful under penalty of perjury and shall be signed by the copyright owner or its agent. Upon receipt of a qualifying notice of infringement, jovoto will contact the User who submitted the Idea in question and if User is unable to substantiate their right to use said material, the alleged infringing material will be removed. Do not make false claims.
User represents and warrants to jovoto, Contest organizers, sponsors, their employees, directors successors and their assigns (hereinafter “Contest Organization”) that User has all rights in and to their Idea/s to the extent necessary to fulfil the provisions of these Terms and in so doing User will not violate any prior agreements (for example, employment agreements with third party employers).
User represents and warrants that all content they submit to the Platform does not infringe upon the rights of third parties and is not inadmissible in accordance with the aforementioned provisions. It is the sole obligation of the User to determine whether said content infringes upon the rights of third parties. It is the further obligation of the User to obtain the right to use works under copyright protection unless the use thereof is not required under exceptions to copyright law. Users are solely responsible for all rights of use in and to the Ideas and content they submit on the Platform.
User agrees that submission of an Idea does not establish a confidential relationship or obligate Contest Organization to treat the Idea (or related materials) as secret or confidential; to develop or use Idea; that no compensation is due for any inadvertent or unintentional use of the Idea; that no obligation is established with respect to any Idea unless and until Contest Organization enters into a written contract with User, and then only as expressed in said contract.
If Idea is the subject of a pending or issued patent, User will disclose that fact to the Contest Organization. Any license to use an Idea shall be in the form of a written contract, in which event Contest Organization’s obligations shall be expressed in such contract. User agrees that, except to the extent that these terms are superseded by a separate written agreement User hereby irrevocably release and forever discharge Contest Organization from any and all actions, causes of actions, claims, damages, liabilities and demands, whether absolute or contingent and of any nature whatsoever, which you now have or hereafter can, shall or may have against Contest Organization with respect to the Idea, including without limitation in respect of how Contest Organization directly or indirectly, uses the Idea, with the sole exception in respect of the foregoing release and discharge being User’s right to bring a claim of patent infringement.
By submitting the Idea, User grants Contest Organization the right to use User’s name, likeness, city state and country information, biographical information and submission materials for all publicity-related purposes, including, but not limited to, press and media communications, without further compensation.
User’s Liability
User expressly agrees to hold Contest Organization harmless from any and all claims arising from the foregoing Representations and Warranties as well as claims by third parties arising from User’s use of the Platform. Contest Organization’s sole obligation hereunder shall be to promptly notify the User if Contest Organization becomes aware of a third party claim. User hereby agrees to indemnify Contest Organization for any liability and costs associated therewith including attorney fees and costs of litigation.
The foregoing hold harmless and indemnity provisions shall apply to all third party claims arising from User’s submissions including claims for violations of trademark, personality rights, or other violations of statutory regulations.
jovoto/Contest Organization Representations and Warranties
Unless expressly provided to the contrary by jovoto and/or the Contest Organization, the website, platform, prizes and the services are provided on an “as is” basis without warranties of any kind, either express or implied.
JOVOTO AND THE CONTEST ORGANIZATION DISCLAIM ALL OTHER WARRANTIES, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED INCLUDING WITHOUT LIMITATION, IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE, TITLE AND NON-INFRINGEMENT. THE PLATFORM AND SITE ARE PROVIDED ON AN “AS IS” BASIS, WITHOUT WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, INCLUDING WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE, TITLE AND NON-INFRINGEMENT AS TO CONTENT ON ITS SITE. JOVOTO MAKES NO WARRANTY AS TO THE ACCURACY OR RELIABILITY OF THE INFORMATION, OR THAT ITS SERVERS ARE FREE OF VIRUSES OR OTHER HARMFUL SOFTWARE.
jovoto/Contest Organization Liability
IN NO EVENT IS THE CONTEST ORGANIZATION LIABLE FOR DIRECT, SPECIAL, INDIRECT OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES OF ANY KIND, INCLUDING LOSS OF USE, LOSS OF PROFITS OR LOSS OF DATA, IN ANY ACTION INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO NEGLIGENCE; ARISING FROM THE USE OF OR THE INABILITY TO USE JOVOTO’S SERVICES OR PLATFORM, CONTENT ON OR ACCESSED THROUGH THE SITE, INCLUDING WITHOUT LIMITATION ANY DAMAGES CAUSED OR RESULTING FROM RELIANCE BY A USER ON INFORMATION OBTAINED FROM THE CONTEST ORGANIZATION, OR THAT RESULT FROM MISTAKES, INTERRUPTION OF SERVICE, DELAYS IN TRANSMISSION OR ANY PERFORMANCE FAILURE, WHETHER OR NOT CAUSED BY FORCE MAJEURE, COMMUNICATIONS FAILURES, THEFT OR DESTRUCTION OR UNAUTHORIZED ACCESS TO JOVOTO’S RECORDS. IN NO EVENT SHALL THE AGGREGATE LIABILITY OF CONTEST ORGANIZATION IN ANY TYPE OF ACTION ARISING HEREUNDER, EXCEED THE COMPENSATION, IF ANY, CONTEST ORGANIZATION RECEIVES FROM USER ACCESSING THE PLATFORM OR USING THE SERVICES. THE FORGOING LIMITATION OF LIABILITY APPLIES EXCEPT IN THE CASE OF INTENTIONAL ACTS, OR GROSS NEGLIGENCE.
USER AGREES THAT ANY CAUSE OF ACTION ARISING HEREUNDER OR RELATED TO THE SERVICES MUST COMMENCE WITHIN ONE (1) YEAR AFTER THE CAUSE OF ACTION ACCRUES. OTHERWISE, SUCH CAUSE OF ACTION IS PERMANENTLY BARRED.
Contest Organization is not responsible for late, lost, stolen, misdirected, damaged, incomplete, or illegible entries; or entries that are lost due to computer, Internet, or electronic malfunction. Contest Organizer reserves the right to cancel or modify Contest and award the prize through an alternate means if fraud or technical failure compromises the integrity of the Contest, as determined by Contest Organization in its sole discretion. Users agree that the Contest Organization shall not be liable for injury, losses, damages, or costs of any kind resulting from participation in this Contest or acceptance of or use or misuse of a prize or parts thereof. In the event of a dispute regarding the identity of the person submitting an electronic entry, the entry will be deemed to be submitted by the person in whose name the e-mail account is registered.
No Recourse to Judicial or Other Procedures
To the extent permitted by law, the rights to litigate, to seek injunctive relief or to 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 User expressly waives any and all such rights.
Placement of Work Samples in the User Profile
Users may use their User profile to publicize themselves and their talent to the public and the community. For this purpose, Users may upload work samples in digital form.
The right to reject or delete Users’ Work Samples placed in User profiles remains in jovoto’s sole and absolute discretion.
Users who place a Work Sample in their User profile grant jovoto the transferable, nonexclusive, spatially and temporally unrestricted rights to use the Work Sample to the extent required for the operation of the service. In particular, the User grants jovoto the right to maintain the Work Sample on the Platform and make it accessible to third parties (public accessibility) and to perform reproductions required for this purpose. The User further grants jovoto the right to process or modify Work Samples in order to optimize their presentation on the jovoto website.
Advertising / Rights of Use
jovoto reserves the right to place third party advertising in User profiles and to reserve advertising space on the profile pages for this purpose.
Other than presenting Work Samples, which may include advertising images, Users may not advertise their own commercial offers (such as price lists, etc.) or third parties’ commercial offers.
User grants jovoto the right to present comments and/or the Idea and the Work Samples assigned thereto outside the Contest domain, e.g. in sections such as ’latest ideas’, ’Best of’ or ’Best Rated’, to modify and present short versions or individual images of videos and texts, smaller versions of photographs (’thumbnails’) etc.
User grants jovoto the right to publicize, send and otherwise reproduce the Ideas, including the Work samples attendant thereto; in particular the right to distribute content to fixed or mobile end-devices of other Users. The right of reproduction granted hereby to jovoto shall include the right to reproduce the Idea and the attendant content on the jovoto website by means of audio and video data (streaming) to be received and simultaneously reproduced by the recipient. This right includes the right to design the stream so that the data sent for this purpose could be stored by the recipient.
In an effort to broaden the awareness of User’s Ideas, User grants jovoto the right to publish Ideas on websites of third-party providers and to carry out the reproductions required therefore, as well as to transmit individual content (i.e. the corresponding files) to the third-party provider and/or to grant these providers technical access to the Ideas for the aforementioned purpose, including the right to duplicate the Ideas for incorporation in provider’s own website. Third-party providers may accept and publish the respective contents submitted by the User.
The User will not receive any remuneration in cash for granting the aforementioned rights of use to jovoto. As consideration for granting the foregoing rights, jovoto shall present User’s Ideas in accordance with these Terms and Conditions for Contests and the General Terms and Conditions of Use on the jovoto Platform and give User the opportunity to sell their Ideas to third parties and participate in Contests. The sufficiency of the consideration is hereby acknowledged and agreed. jovoto reserves the right to terminate Contests before their actual launch or before the expiration of the announced participation period without obligation to provide reason. jovoto further reserves the right to restrict participation in Contests to certain Users or Users’ categories. jovoto may define respective categories for this purpose.
Applicable Law and Venue
These Terms shall be governed by and construed in accordance with the laws of the State of New York, without resort to its conflict of law provisions. User agrees that any action at law or in equity arising out of or relating to these Terms shall be filed only in the state and federal courts located in New York County, New York, United States of America and User hereby irrevocably and unconditionally consents and submits to the exclusive jurisdiction of such courts over any suit, action or proceeding arising out of these Terms.