TERM: Deadline Extended! The VOA photo contest ends Friday, March 1, 2013. All entries must be submitted and received by 12 noon (1700utc) on Friday, March 1, 2013.  Claim of submission is not proof of receipt.

WHO MAY ENTER: To enter the VOA English Photo Contest, you must be at least 18-years-old. Citizens and residents of the United States are not eligible to win. Entrants cannot be employees or contractors of the Voice of America (VOA).

HOW TO ENTER:  Entry forms and photos must be completed and uploaded to www.voanews.com/ipad.  There are no exceptions.   Your entry must include the following (1) your name, (2) a caption for your photo that includes information about where it was taken, and (3) email contact information.  For privacy purposes, you may use a pseudonym to hide your identity for public display.  However, VOA does not guarantee anonymity for any entrants.  Entries that do not include the above information will not be eligible for prizes.

There are no limits on the number of entries per person, but there may be no more than one picture per entry.  Each photographic entry must comply with the following requirements:

Photographs must be in digital format. No print or film submissions will be accepted.  Scans of negatives, transparencies, or photographic prints will not be accepted.  All digital files must be 5 megabytes or smaller, must be in JPEG or JPG format, and must be at least 480 pixels wide and 480 pixels tall. Only cropping, minor burning, dodging and/or color correction is acceptable.  VOA retains the right to crop or resize photos to fit display requirements, and use said photos for any non-commercial promotional purposes.  Submitted digital photos will not be returned to the entrants.

By entering the contest, the entrant affirms that the submitted photograph is an original work created solely by the entrant, that the photograph does not infringe on the copyrights, trademarks, moral rights, rights of privacy/publicity or intellectual property rights of any person or entity, and that no other party has any right, title, claim, or interest in the photograph.

The judges reserve the right to examine original photographs in order to confirm compliance with these rules.  Photographs will be subject to testing for copyright infringement to insure fairness for all entrants.

Photographs must not, at the discretion of the judges, contain obscene, provocative, defamatory, sexually explicit themes, nudity, or otherwise objectionable or inappropriate content.

RELEASES: If the photograph contains any material, elements or property that are not owned by the entrant and/or which are subject to the rights of third parties, and/or if any persons appear in the photograph, the entrant is responsible for obtaining, prior to submission of the photograph, any and all releases and consents necessary to permit use of the photograph without additional compensation.

CONTEST PRIZES:  The winner/winners of the VOA Photo Contest will be determined by a panel of judges chosen by VOA management.  Winners will be announced on or around April 11, 2013 and notified by email. If a winner cannot be reached after repeated attempts, the judges will award the prize to an alternate recipient.

The winner of the 2013 VOA Photo Contest will receive a new Apple iPad (with Retina display, 16gb with wi-fi & cellular) purchased in the United States, with an estimated value of $629, or a prize of equal value.  Alternate prizes, if required due to the recipient’s place of residence, will be determined by agreement of the recipient and VOA management.  The prize will be delivered in a means agreed upon by the recipient and the management of Voice of America.  The prize recipient will be responsible for any taxes, duty, other charges incurred during transit outside the United States.   

LICENSE: By entering the contest, all entrants grant the Voice of America worldwide non-exclusive, perpetual, no-cost license to reproduce, distribute, display and create derivative works of the entries (along with a name credit). Display or publication of any entry on VOA’s website does not indicate the entrant will be selected as a winner. By entering, each entrant grants to VOA unrestricted right to use all statements made in connection with the contest, and pictures or likenesses of contest entrants, without pay or additional consideration.

LIMITATION OF LIABILITY: The Voice of America assumes no responsibility for any error, omission, interruption, deletion, defect, or delay in operation or transmission; communications line failure; theft or destruction of or unauthorized access to Contest entries or entry forms; or alteration of entries or entry forms. VOA is not responsible for any problems with or technical malfunction of any telephone network or lines, computer online systems, servers or providers, computer equipment, software, failure of any email entry to be received on account of technical problems or traffic congestion on the Internet or at any website, human errors of any kind, or any combination thereof, including any injury or damage to entrants' or any other persons' computers related to or resulting from participation, uploading or downloading of any materials related to in this Contest.

DATA PRIVACY: Entrants agree that personal data may be collected and used to verify the participant's identity, postal address, and telephone number or to otherwise verify the participant's eligibility to participate in the contest.