Road Trip USA

ROAD TRIP USA CONTEST OFFICIAL RULES

1) NO PURCHASE NECESSARY.

2) Contest begins April 1, 2006 and is open to any individual who is the age of majority in their jurisdiction of residence, 18 years old or older as of April 1, 2006 and who is a legal resident of the 50 United States and the District of Columbia (excluding Puerto Rico and the other territories and possessions of the United States) and Canada (excluding the Province of Quebec).

3) To enter, email an original story (fiction or non-fiction) about a road trip together with one (1) digital road trip photo to: contest@roadtripusa.com.  Submitted stories and photos must be original and must have a road trip theme.  Submitted stories must be a minimum of 350 words and a maximum of 750 words, submitted in the body of the email, double spaced, in 12 point font and spell-checked.  Digital photographs must be submitted in high-resolution (at least 300 DPI) JPEG or TIFF format.  Every submission must include the entrant’s complete current contact information, including, entrant’s full name, mailing address, email address and telephone number.  Entries are void if they contain typographical or other errors.  Entries which are altered, incomplete, tampered with, illegible, inaccurate, forged, irregular in any way, or otherwise not in compliance with these Official Rules are also void.  Limit one entry per person.  To be valid all entries must be received by September 30, 2006.

4) By entering the Contest:  (a) you represent and warrant that your entry is wholly original with you and does not incorporate or include anything that is owned by any third party and does not violate any copyright, trademark, publicity right, or any other right of any third party; (b) you agree that your entry shall be a “work made for hire,” with all rights therein, including, without limitation, the exclusive copyright, being the property of Sponsor; and (c) in the event your entry is considered not to be a “work made for hire,” you irrevocably assign to Sponsor all right, title, and interest in your entry (including without limitation the copyright) in any and all media whether now known or hereafter devised, in perpetuity, throughout the world, with the right to make any and all uses thereof, including, without limitation, for purposes of advertising or trade.  Without limiting the generality of the foregoing, you specifically agree that Sponsor shall have the right to edit and modify your entry as it determines in its sole discretion and then publish it in Road Trip USA books or other publications, on the Road Trip USA website, and/or in advertising or publicity in connection with the foregoing, without compensation, regardless of whether you win the Contest.  The winner will be chosen by a panel of judges from the editorial staff of Avalon Publishing Group based on the following two equally-weighted criteria:  creativity, and originality. Any entries that are not legally acceptable for publication as determined by Sponsor in its sole discretion will be disqualified.  The winner will be selected on or about October 5, 2006.  The decision of the judges is final and binding in all regards.  The winner will be notified by e-mail within approximately two weeks after the winner has been selected.  The odds of winning depend upon the number of eligible entries received.  Winning the Contest does not guarantee that the winner’s entry will be used on Road Trip USA’s website.  Although the prize will be awarded, Sponsor reserves the right to make the final determination about whether to use the winning entry chosen by the judges on Road Trip USA’s website.  Non-winning entries may also be chosen by Sponsor, based on the above criteria, may appear in any Road Trip USA publication, Avalon Publishing Group publication or on the Road Trip USA website from time-to-time, as Sponsor shall determine in its sole discretion.  Sponsor is under no obligation to use the winning entry or any other entry for any purpose.

5) Entries and other submitted material become the property of Sponsor and will not be acknowledged or returned.  Sponsor and those working for it or on its behalf will not be responsible for lost, late, misdirected, or damaged e-mail and for Internet, computer hardware and software, phone, and other technical errors, malfunctions, and delays.   In the event of a dispute concerning who submitted an entry, the entry will be deemed to have been submitted by the holder of the e-mail account.  Copies of these Official Rules may be obtained by sending a self-addressed, stamped envelope to the address set forth in Section 11 below.  Requests for Official Rules must be received by September 1, 2006.  All dates in these Official Rules are Eastern Standard Time.

6) Sponsor reserves the right in its sole discretion to modify or cancel all or any portions of the Contest because of technical errors or malfunctions, viruses, hackers, or for other reasons that corrupt the Contest in any manner.  Sponsor also reserves the right to disqualify any entrant for any reason.

7) PRIZES:  One (1) Grand Prize: One (1) copy of Microsoft Streets & Trips with GPS locator and a featured posting of the winning story and photograph on www.roadtripusa.com.  (Approximate retail value of prize:  $129.00.)  Five (5) Second Prizes: One (1) signed copy of Road Trip USA.  (Approximate retail value of prize: $29.95)  Entry Prize:  All eligible entries will receive a “Road Tripper” bumper sticker.  (Approximate retail value of prize: $5.00)  ANY UNCLAIMED OR UNREDEEMED PRIZES WILL NOT BE AWARDED

8) Officers, directors, representatives, authors, and employees of Avalon Publishing Group, Inc., their affiliates or subsidiaries, or their respective advertising, promotion, publicity, production, and judging agencies and their families and household members, are not eligible to enter.  By entering or accepting a prize in the Contest, entrants agree to be bound by the decisions of the judges and these Official Rules and to comply with all federal, state, and local laws and regulations.  All federal, state, and local taxes are the winners’ sole responsibility.  No prize substitutions, transfers, or cash alternatives permitted except the Sponsor reserves the right to substitute a prize of equal or greater value at the Sponsor’s sole discretion.  An Affidavit of Eligibility and Compliance with these Official Rules and a Liability and (unless prohibited) Publicity Release must be executed and returned by each potential winner within 7working days after prize notification is sent to the e-mail address on the potential winner’s entry.  Failure of any potential winner to complete, sign, and return any requested documents within such period or the return of any prize notification or prize as undeliverable may result in disqualification and selection of an alternate winner in Sponsor’s sole discretion.  You are not a winner unless your submissions are validated.  By entering, or accepting a Contest prize, the entrants accept all of the conditions, restrictions, requirements, and/or regulations required by the Sponsor and also agree to accept delivery of the prize based upon availability.

9) Unless otherwise prohibited by law, by entering the Contest and/or accepting a Contest prize, you grant to Sponsor the absolute right to use your name, picture, likeness, address (city and state), biographical information, and any material based upon or derived therefrom, or to refrain from so doing, in any manner in any and all media, whether now known or hereafter devised, anywhere in the world in perpetuity in connection with the use of your entry in any Road Trip USA publication, Avalon Publishing Group publication, on Road Trip USA’s website, and/or in any other media and for purposes of advertising or trade in promoting or publicizing Sponsor, and for this and/or similar promotions, without compensation.  You also agree that you shall have no right of approval, no claim to compensation, and no claim (including, without limitation claims based on invasion of privacy, defamation, or right of publicity) arising out of any use, blurring, distortion, illusory effect, alteration, or use in composite form of your name, picture, likeness, address (city and state), biographical information, and entry.

10) By entering the Contest, you agree to release, discharge, and hold harmless Road Trip USA, Avalon Publishing Group Inc., their respective affiliates and subsidiaries, and each of their directors, officers, employees, agents, successors, and assigns (collectively, the “Contest Entities”), from and against any and all claims, damages, injuries, deaths, losses, rights, causes of action, actions, suits, debts, sums of money, or other liabilities, either at law or equity, whether known or unknown, asserted or non-asserted, arising from or in any way relating to entrants’ participation in the Contest, the awarding, acceptance, use, or misuse of any prize, or the use of any entry.  You represent and warrant that you have the full right and authority to grant the rights granted herein and that your agreement to the terms hereof does not conflict with any existing commitment on your part.

11) To get the name of the prize winner, send a self-addressed, stamped envelope to:  Road Trip USA Contest Winner’s List: c/o Avalon Publishing Group, 1400 65th Street, Suite 250, Emeryville, CA, 94608.  All winners list requests must be received by October 31, 2006.

12) Contest is void in Puerto Rico and the other territories and possessions of the United States, in the Province of Quebec and where prohibited, taxed, or otherwise restricted.  The information that you provide in connection with the Contest may be used for Sponsor’s internal purposes and to send you information about Sponsor, but will not be provided to third parties, except as necessary for the administration of the Contest or as required by law or legal process. 

13) The Sponsor of the Contest is Avalon Publishing Group, 1400 65th Street, Suite 250, Emeryville, CA 94608.

14) THE CONTEST SHALL BE GOVERNED BY THE LAWS OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA WITHOUT REGARD FOR CHOICE OF LAWS OR CONFLICTS OF LAWS PRINCIPLES THAT WOULD INDICATE THE APPLICATION OF THE LAWS OF ANY OTHER JURISDICTION.  By registering, each entrant also agrees that any and all disputes that he/she may have with, or claims he/she may have against Contest Entities relating to, arising out of or connected in any way with the Contest will be resolved individually and exclusively by final and binding arbitration administered by the American Arbitration Association (the "AAA") and conducted before a sole arbitrator pursuant to the Code of Procedure established by the AAA.  The arbitration shall be held in the City and County of Emeryville, Alameda County and shall be subject to the governing law provision set forth herein.  The arbitrator’s decision shall be controlled by the terms and conditions of these Official Rules.  There shall be no authority for any claims to be arbitrated on a class or representative basis; arbitration can decide only participant’s and/or the Contest Entities’ individual claims and the arbitrator may not consolidate or join the claims of other persons or parties who may be similarly situated.  The arbitrator shall not have the power to award special, consequential, incidental, exemplary, punitive or other similar damages against the Contest Entities.  If any part of this arbitration provision is deemed to be invalid or otherwise unenforceable or illegal, the balance of this arbitration provision shall remain in effect and shall be construed in accordance with its terms as if the invalid or illegal provision were not contained herein, except that any such invalid or illegal provision shall be enforced to the greatest extent permitted by law.  Notwithstanding anything contained herein to the contrary, the Contest Entities may seek to obtain injunctive relief in any of the federal or state courts located in the City and County of Emeryville, Alameda County or any other court of competent jurisdiction for the breach or threatened breach of these Official Rules, without posting bond, in addition to any other remedies in law or equity, which may be available to the Contest Entities.  Each participant consents to jurisdiction and venue in the federal or state courts located in the City and County of Emeryville, Alameda County for the purposes set forth above and/or to confirm any award obtained by the Contest Entities in arbitration.