Video Contest Instructions and Rules

July 22, 2010

Instructions

Thank you for participating in Center for Inquiry’s Campaign for Free Expression Video Contest. In order to ensure that your entry enters the running, please follow these simple instructions:

  1. Create a video, 30 seconds - 60 seconds long, in the form of a public service announcement, about the importance of free expression. (See two examples produced by members of CFI)
  2. Upload the video to YouTube
  3. Tag the video with “Campaign for Free Expression Video Contest”
  4. Add the following to the description of the video: “This video has been submitted as part of the Center for Inquiry’s Campaign for Free Expression Video Contest (http://www.centerforinquiry.net/campaign_for_free_expression); however, it does not carry the endorsement, or necessarily represent the views, of the Center for Inquiry.”
  5. Send an email to videocontest@centerforinquiry.net with a subject line of “CFI Video Contest submission”, containing the following information:
    • title of your video
    • link to your video
    • your name
    • your mailing address
    • your email address
    • your phone number
  6. Videos must be submitted by September 20, 2010

The top three videos shall be announced on International Blasphemy Rights Day, September 30, 2010. Third place will receive $500, second place will receive $1000, and first place will receive the grand prize of $2000!

Full Contest Rules and Regulations

The Center for Inquiry (CFI), in conjunction with its Campaign for Free Expression, is pleased to announce that it is holding a contest for the best video on the following topic: The Importance of Free Expression. Videos should be in the form of a pubic service announcement (PSA) video, suitable for distribution online. (Please see the examples on the Campaign for Free Expression website.) The person submitting the best PSA-style video, as determined by CFI’s judges, will receive an award of $2000 (USD). The first runner-up will receive an award of $1000 (USD) and the second runner-up will receive an award of $500 (USD). The rules for the contest are as follows:

  1. No employee, or relative by blood or marriage, of the Center for Inquiry or its affiliates, including, but not limited to, the Council for Secular Humanism, is eligible to enter the contest. Contestants must be adults in their jurisdiction of residence. For legal reasons, this contest is restricted to residents of the United States and Canada.
  2. All submissions will remain property of the contestant. However, by entering the contest, contestants grant CFI a royalty-free license to use, edit, reproduce, or distribute the contestant’s submitted video as CFI sees fit in its sole discretion, although authorship will be acknowledged.
  3. By submitting an entry, the contestant warrants that the work is original and does not violate the intellectual property rights of any other person or entity. In addition, by submitting an entry, the contestant grants permission to CFI to use her or his name for publicity purposes, including, but not limited to, announcing the results of the contest.
  4. Submitted videos should not exceed 30 or 60 seconds in length, as these are the standard lengths for PSAs. However, CFI will consider videos of up to 90 seconds in length. Any video longer than 90 seconds will be disqualified.
  5. Submissions should be uploaded to YouTube or a similar video-sharing website, and the link to the contestant’s video, the contestant’s name, mailing address, e-address, phone number, and the title of the contestant’s video should be sent to: videocontest@centerforinquiry.net. Place “CFI Video Contest submission” in the subject line. To ensure blind review, identifying information must not appear in the video itself. In describing the video on YouTube or another video-sharing site, the contestant is to include the following language: “This video has been submitted as part of the Center for Inquiry’s Campaign for Free Expression Video Contest (http://www.centerforinquiry.net/campaign_for_free_expression); however, it does not carry the endorsement, or necessarily represent the views, of the Center for Inquiry.” CFI bears no responsibility for technical difficulties encountered by contestants in uploading their videos.
  6. To be considered, entries must be received by 11:59 p.m. (Eastern Time) on September 20, 2010.
  7. Submitted videos must not contain any logos or language directly identifying the video with CFI or its affiliated organizations. CFI disclaims any responsibility whatsoever for the content of submitted videos and by submitting an entry, contestants agree to reimburse CFI and its affiliates, and their directors, officers, and employees, in full in respect of any expense, cost, or liability incurred by them as a result of any claims arising out of allegedly illegal content, including, but not limited to, any claims of infringement or other breach of intellectual property or other rights.
  8. The decisions of the judges are final and nonreviewable.
  9. Submitters of winning videos will be expected to provide CFI with full-resolution versions of their submissions.
  10. This contest is void where prohibited by law.

The mission of the Center for Inquiry is to foster a secular society based on science, reason, freedom of inquiry, and humanist values. To learn more, go to http://www.centerforinquiry.net.