Washington Post columnist John Kelly is marking his 13th annual Squirrel Week with a reader photography contest. Here are the rules:
HOW TO ENTER: No purchase necessary. To enter, send an image of a squirrel to squirrelphotos@washpost.com. It should be a .jpeg attachment, no larger than 5MB in size. Put “Squirrel Photo” in the subject line. You may only submit an image that you have taken yourself, and you must have all necessary rights in the photo in order to submit it here. Please provide whatever caption information you like, as well as your name, email address and phone number. Please do not submit images that have been heavily manipulated. It is acceptable to adjust images to achieve color balance that reflects the scene as you observed it. Cropping is also acceptable. The Post has the right to disqualify any image which it feels has been overly altered.
Only amateur photographers are eligible. Professional photographers (i.e., anyone who earns more than 50 percent of his or her annual income from photography, determined at Sponsor’s sole discretion) are not eligible.
By entering, you grant The Washington Post a non-exclusive license to use your photo in perpetuity in any medium, including to edit, publish, distribute and republish it in any form. Entrants retain the copyright to their images. All entries are subject to The Post’s Discussion and Submission Guidelines.
Entries must be received by 11:59 p.m. ET on April 3, 2023. Entries that are late, incomplete, unreadable, inaccurate, unintelligible or otherwise not in compliance with these Official Rules will not be considered. Sponsor is not responsible for lost, destroyed or misdirected entries.
PRIZE: Gift card in the amount of $100 to a retailer to be named later. Average retail value: Grand Prize, $100.
No substitutions, exchanges, refunds or other compensation will be made for any reason, including cancellation of the contest. The winners is solely responsible for paying any taxes associated with claiming this prize.
SELECTION OF WINNERS: One winner will be selected based on originality, creativity and skill by John Kelly in consultation with Sponsor’s in-house photo staff. The winners will be notified by Sponsor on or about April 10, 2023. Sponsor will make reasonable efforts to notify the winner using the contact information provided with the entry. In Sponsor’s sole discretion, a selected winner may be required to forfeit a prize and an alternate winner selected in accordance with these Official Rules from among the remaining eligible entries for that prize if selected winner (i) is unreachable, (ii) declines or cannot accept, receive or use the prize for any reason, or (iii) is found by Sponsor to have failed to comply with these Official Rules.
LIMITATION OF LIABILITY AND GENERAL CONDITIONS: By participating in this Contest, entrants agree to be bound by these Official Rules and the decisions of the judges, which are final and binding in all respects. By entering, each entrant agrees to release, discharge, indemnify, and hold harmless the Sponsor and its parent companies, affiliates, subsidiaries and advertising and marketing agencies and each of their respective employees, officers, shareholders, directors, representatives and agents (collectively, “Releasees”) from and against any claims, damages or liability involving or arising out of (i) late, lost, delayed, misdirected, postage due, mutilated, incomplete, unreadable, inaccurate, garbled or unintelligible entries; (ii) telephone system, technical or computer malfunctions, lost connections, disconnections, transmission or other errors of any kind whether mechanical, human, electronic or otherwise; (iii) data corruption, theft, destruction, unauthorized access to or alteration of entry or other materials; (iv) any injuries, losses or damages of any kind caused, including death, in whole or in part, directly or indirectly, by the prize or resulting from acceptance, possession or use or misuse of any prize or from participating in the Contest or any Contest related activity; or (v) any printing, distribution, typographical, administrative, human or technological errors involving or associated with the Contest. Sponsor disclaims any liability for damage to any computer system resulting from participating in, or accessing or downloading information in connection with the Contest.
Sponsor reserves the right, in its sole discretion, to modify, cancel or suspend this Contest (or any portion of the Contest) should any virus, bug, computer problem or other cause or problem corrupt or inhibit the administration, security or proper operation of the Contest and, in such situation (or in the event of any type of error), to select the winners from eligible entries received prior to the action taken or in such manner as deemed fair and appropriate by Sponsor. In no event will Sponsor be liable for more than the stated number of prizes in these Official Rules. Sponsor may prohibit entrant from participating in the Contest or winning a prize if, in its sole discretion, it determines entrant is attempting to undermine the legitimate operation of the Contest by cheating, hacking, deception, or other unfair practices or intending to annoy, abuse, threaten or harass any other entrant or Sponsors’ representatives. Releasees have not made and/or are not responsible for any misrepresentation or guaranty, express or implied, in fact or in law, relative to the prizes. By accepting a prize, winner agrees and acknowledges that Sponsor may use winner’s name, voice, biographical data, likeness and city name in any and all media throughout the universe and in perpetuity for promotional purposes without additional compensation, except where prohibited by law.
By entering the Contest, entrants agree that: (1) any and all disputes, claims, and causes of action arising out of or connected with the Contest, or any prizes awarded, shall be resolved individually, without resort to any form of class action; (2) any and all claims, judgments and awards shall be limited to actual out-of-pocket costs incurred, including costs associated with entering the Contest, but in no event will attorneys’ fees be awarded or recoverable; and (3) under no circumstances will any entrant be permitted to obtain any award for, and entrant hereby knowingly and expressly waives all rights to seek, punitive, incidental or consequential damages and/or any other damages, other than actual out-of-pocket expenses, and/or any and all rights to have damages multiplied or otherwise increased.
WINNER LIST: For the name of the prize winner, available after April 10, 2023, or a copy of these Official Rules, send a self-addressed, stamped envelope to: John Kelly, The Washington Post, 1301 K St. NW, Washington, DC 20071. Please specify “Official Rules” or “Winners List.” Requests must be received by December 31, 2023.