Notice

WEBTOON™ “SHORT STORY” CONTEST OFFICIAL RULES

NO PURCHASE NECESSARY. A PURCHASE OR PAYMENT OF ANY KIND WILL NOT INCREASE YOUR CHANCES OF WINNING. THIS CONTEST IS VOID WHERE PROHIBITED OR RESTRICTED BY LAW AND IS SUBJECT TO ALL APPLICABLE LOCAL LAWS AND REGULATIONS. 

1. SPONSOR & CONTEST ADMINISTRATOR

The Sponsor and Contest Administrator of the Contest is WEBTOON Entertainment Inc., 5750 Wilshire Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90036, United States (“WEBTOON”).

2. TERM

Submissions into the WEBTOON “Short Story” Contest (the “Contest”) will be accepted between 6:00 p.m. (PST) on April 30, 2020 and 6:00 p.m. (PST) on June 30, 2020 (“Submission Period”). The selection process will take place from July 1, 2020 through July 30, 2020 and the winners will be announced on August 12, 2020. Detailed information on the Contest is included in these Official Rules (“Official Rules”). By submitting an entry, each entrant agrees to the Official Rules and warrants that the entry complies with all requirements set out in the Official Rules. The official end time for the Contest, including all winner selection periods, is 6:00 p.m. (PST) on August 12, 2020 (the “Contest Period”).

3. ELIGIBILITY 

The Contest is open to entrants who reside anywhere in the world, excluding residents of Crimea, Cuba, Iran, North Korea, Sudan, Syria, Libya, or Somalia and to residents of any other country sanctioned by the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) of the US Department of the Treasury and where prohibited by law. WEBTOON employees, contractors and interns, and immediate family members (spouse, parents, siblings, children) of such employees, contractors and interns are not eligible to participate in the Contest. Each entry may be submitted by an individual creator or by a group of creators. However, only individuals who are at least thirteen (13) years old as of April 30, 2020 are eligible to enter the Contest, whether as individuals or as part of a team. If any entrant is under the age of 18, the individual must have permission from a parent or legal guardian to enter the Contest. If selected as a winner, any entrant under the age of eighteen (18) will be required to provide a parent or legal guardian’s written consent to participate in the Contest, and the parent or legal guardian must execute all required paperwork on the entrant’s behalf. 

4. ENTRY REQUIREMENTS

Each entry into the Contest consists of personal information requested in the entry process about each individual entrant or group, as well as the submission into the Contest. Each qualified submission into the Contest is a comic series in any of two (2) eligible genres: Brain (mind-bending) and Heart (heartfelt). Submission requirements for both genres are as follows:

·       Number of Episodes: Minimum of three (3) episodes, up to five (5) episodes

·       Number of Panels: Each episode must be at least thirty (30) panels in length.

·       **Important to remember that your story should have a clear beginning, middle, and end**

Additional requirements for each qualified submission are as follows:

·       All episode content must be submitted in English.

·       An episode will consist of JPG or PNG files with each file being less than 800px wide and 1280px long and under 2 Megabytes, up to 20 Megabytes in total.

·       The copyright to the submission must be held by the individual or group submitting it. 

·       Any comic episode that was previously published or made public may be submitted provided that there are no third-party agreements or engagements that prohibit its publication through WEBTOON or this Contest. Violation of this provision may result in the disqualification of the subject entry, nullification of any prizes awarded for the entry, and removal of the entry from its platform.

5. ENTRY RESTRICTIONS

Each submission must comply with WEBTOON’s Community Policy and Uploading Guidelines, including without limitation, the submission must be the original work of the individual entrant or team of entrants, and may not use stock materials from others; may not contain depictions of characters, symbols, titles, names, brand names, slogans or logos of any third party; may not be inappropriate, offensive, libelous or defamatory, pornographic, sexually explicit, unlawful or plagiarized, as determined by WEBTOON in its sole discretion; must not be harassing, abusive, threatening, harmful, vulgar, profane, obscene, excessively violent, overly graphic, racially, ethnically or otherwise objectionable or offensive in any way, as determined by WEBTOON in its sole discretion; may not violate or encourage others to violate any applicable law, statute, ordinance or regulation; may not defame or invade publicity rights or privacy of any person, living or deceased, or otherwise infringe upon any person's personal or property rights or any other third party rights (including copyrights, rights of privacy, publicity and so forth), or involve physical harm to any person or animal; may not include any viruses, worms, corrupt files, Trojan horses, or other forms of corruptive code or content that may harm or compromise the Service, as defined below, and/or the proper conduct of the Contest.  

WEBTOON reserves the right, at any time, to verify the validity of entries and to disqualify any entrant who submits an entry that is not in accordance with these Official Rules or who tampers with the entry process. In the event WEBTOON determines there has been a violation of any of these restrictions, it may disqualify the subject entry, cancel any prizes awarded for the entry and/or remove the entry. Failure by WEBTOON to enforce any of its rights at any stage does not constitute a waiver of those rights. While an individual entrant or team of entrants may submit multiple qualified submissions, duplicate entries containing the same submission(s) are not allowed.  

6. HOW TO ENTER

During the Submission Period, go to https://www.webtoons.com/en/challenge/contest/us-contest-2020 ​and follow the on-screen instruction to submit your episodes. All entries must be submitted in digital format through our online uploading process which allows up to 20MB in total per episode, with each file up to 2MB. Only online entries will be accepted. No hard copies of entries will be accepted for judging.

7. RIGHTS, OBLIGATIONS AND WARRANTIES

Each individual entrant or team of entrants hereby understands and agrees with the following:

·       The entrant or team of entrants associated with each submission owns and shall retain the copyright to the submission. Each work submitted will remain the exclusive property of its creator(s).

·       By submitting comic episodes to the Contest, the entrant or team of entrants acknowledges and agrees that such episodes may be posted by WEBTOON, including but not limited to the WEBTOON site and mobile app (the “Service”). 

·       If a submission is selected as a prize-winning work, the entrant will be offered an Original Series contract with WEBTOON. 

·       The entrant or team of entrants will have fifteen (15) calendar days to formally accept WEBTOON’s offer to become an Original Series as a condition to accepting the Bronze Prize, Silver Prize and Grand Prize.

·       The entrant(s) have read and agree to comply with WEBTOON’s Terms of Use.

Each individual entrant or team of entrants warrants and agrees as follows:

·       The entry submitted is your original artistic work and does not infringe the copyright or other proprietary rights of any third party. 

·       The entry submitted is not prohibited from being submitted into this Contest or displayed/published through the Service due to any third-party agreements or engagements.

·       The entry submitted does not include any material that violates these Official Rules.

·       If the entry or any part of the information provided in relation to the entry includes a depiction of a natural person, entrant(s) warrant that they have obtained permission from that individual to use his or her likeness for any and all purposes allowed by WEBTOON described herein.

·       Entrant(s) indemnify and hold WEBTOON harmless against all claims and costs by any third party arising from a breach of this warranty.

8. SELECTION OF WINNERS 

This is a skill-based contest and chance plays no part in the determination of winners. Chances of winning depend on the number of eligible entries received. Judging to determine the shortlist of finalists will be conducted from among all eligible entries received, by a panel of judges from members of WEBTOON. One (1) Grand Prize, three (3) Silver Prize, and six (6) Bronze Prize winners will be selected for each category (i.e. Brain and Heart) from among the shortlist of finalists by a panel of judges from members of the WEBTOON Contest committee.

Entries will be judged according to the following criteria:

·       40 points: Narrative; category-specific attributes

    Brain: A mind-bending story.

    Heart: A heartfelt story

·       30 points: Pacing, readability, clarity

    Please refer to this page: WEBTOON Editing Tips

·       30 points: Level of audience engagement

The level of audience engagement is a weighted measurement and ratio of views, likes, and comments.

A maximum of seventy (70) points may be assigned to each entry by the panel of judges. Determination of Bronze & Silver Prize Winners, and Grand Prize Winners will be based on the judge-assigned score (70%) and the level of audience engagement through WEBTOON (30%).

WEBTOON reserves the right to select fewer than twenty (20) prize winners, if, in WEBTOON’s sole discretion, WEBTOON do not receive a sufficient number of eligible and qualified submissions. LIMIT: one (1) winning entry per user or team of users.

The Contest will be administered and judged by WEBTOON, and the decisions of WEBTOON, in all matters regarding this Contest are final and binding. Potential prize winners must meet all eligibility requirements including the timely execution and return of all necessary releases and documents (including but not limited to an affidavit of eligibility, a tax acknowledgement form, liability release, and, except where prohibited by law, a publicity release) within five (5) days after accepting the prize, including but not limited to accepting WEBTOON’s Original Series offer. Additional document(s) including a Master Creator Agreement (to become an Original Series) will be required for all prize winners, and all selected winner(s) must continue to comply with timely return of documents. Non-compliance with each allotted time period(s) or failure of potential prize winners to respond after two notification attempts may result in disqualification and, at WEBTOON’s discretion, an alternate winner may be selected by the panel of judges from among the remaining qualifying entries. If (i) any prize or prize notification is returned as undeliverable, (ii) a potential winner declines the prize, or (iii) a potential winner fails to comply with any of the Official Rules as outlined herein, such potential winner will be disqualified and an alternate winner may be selected by the panel of judges, at WEBTOON’s sole and absolute discretion.

9. CONTEST PRIZES 

Contest prizes for each category (i.e. Brain and Heart) are as follows:

·       Six (6) Bronze Prize Winners: Each Bronze Prize winner will receive Three Thousand Dollars ($3,000.00 USD) and an Original Series contract for the short story to become published as an original anthology series on the Service.

·       Three (3) Silver Prize Winners: Each Silver Prize winner will receive Five Thousand Dollars ($5,000.00 USD) and an Original Series contract for the short story to become published as an original anthology series on the Service.

·       One (1) Grand Prize Winner: The Grand Prize winner will receive Fifteen Thousand Dollars ($15,000.00  USD) and an Original Series contract for the short story to become published as an original anthology series on the Service. The Grand Prize winner will also have their submission adapted into a three (3) to five (5) minute animated short to be published on WEBTOON’s YouTube page.

10. PRIZE CONDITIONS

Each prize winner shall be solely responsible for all federal/national, state/province and/or local taxes, and the reporting consequences thereof, and for any other fees or costs associated with the prize. If an entrant is found to be ineligible, or if an entrant does not comply with the Official Rules, then the potential winner will be disqualified, and an alternate potential winner will be selected. Entrant waives the right to assert as a cost of winning a prize any and all costs of verification and redemption or travel to redeem said prize and any liability which might arise from redeeming or seeking to redeem said prize. WEBTOON is not responsible for fraudulent calls or emails made to entrants not by WEBTOON. All international, federal, state or other tax liabilities (including income taxes) arising from this Contest will be the sole responsibility of the winner. Except where prohibited by law, each winner's entry and acceptance of the prize constitutes permission for the WEBTOON to use said winner’s name, entry, photograph, likeness, statements, biographical information, voice, and city/state/country for promotional or advertising purposes in connection with this Contest on a worldwide basis, and in all forms of media, now or hereafter known, in perpetuity, without review, permission or further compensation. All entries are subject to verification prior to awarding of prize. Eligibility, age, and claims made by a prize winner also are subject to verification prior to awarding of prizes.  

11. RELEASE

By receipt of any prize, winners agree to release and hold harmless WEBTOON and their respective subsidiaries, affiliates, suppliers, distributors, advertising/promotion agencies, and prize suppliers, and each of their respective parent companies and each such company’s officers, directors, employees and agents (collectively, the "Released Parties") from and against any claim or cause of action, including, but not limited to, personal injury, death, or damage to or loss of property, arising out of participation in the Contest or receipt or use or misuse of any prize. Released Parties are not responsible for: (1) any incorrect or inaccurate information, whether caused by entrant, printing, typographical or other errors or by any of the equipment or programming associated with or utilized in the Contest; (2) technical failures of any kind, including, but not limited to malfunctions, interruptions, or disconnections in phone lines or network hardware or software; (3) unauthorized human intervention in any part of the submission process or the Contest; (4) printing, typographical, technical, computer, network or human error which may occur in the administration of the Contest, the uploading, the processing or judging of entries, the announcement of the prizes or in any Contest-related materials; (5) late, lost, undeliverable, damaged or stolen mail; or (6) any injury or damage to persons or property which may be caused, directly or indirectly, in whole or in part, from entrant’s participation in the Contest or receipt or use or misuse of any prize (including any travel/activity related thereto).  Released Parties are not responsible for misdirected or undeliverable entries or for any technical problems, malfunctions of computer systems, servers, providers, hardware/software, lost or unavailable network connections or failed, incomplete, garbled or delayed computer transmission or any combination thereof.  Released Parties are not responsible for any unauthorized third-party use of any entry.

12. PRIVACY POLICIES AND DATA COLLECTIONS:

In accordance with the terms of use of WEBTOON, the children under thirteen (13) years old are not allowed to participate in this Contest. If WEBTOON finds that the children under thirteen (13) years old have participated and are selected as a winner, WEBTOON shall immediately cancel such selection and delete their personal information.

Entrant hereby agrees that WEBTOON will collect entrant’s name, email address and other personally identifying information, which will be used only for the delivery of the prize and for no other purpose. By providing this personal information, entrant is deemed to agree to the collection and handling of the personal information by WEBTOON, and, if required, to regulatory authorities. WEBTOON will not use this information for promotional, marketing, publicity, research and profiling purposes. If entrant does not provide the personal information that is requested, they may be unable to participate in the Contest. 

More details of the privacy policy of WEBTOON are found in Webtoon’s privacy policy located at http://www.webtoons.com/en/terms.

13. GENERAL LIABILITY RELEASE / FORCE MAJEURE

Entrants agree that WEBTOON (A) shall not be responsible or liable for, and are hereby released from, any and all costs, injuries, losses or damages of any kind, including, without limitation, death and bodily injury, due in whole or in part, directly or indirectly, to participation in the Contest or any Contest-related activity, or from entrants’ acceptance, receipt, possession and/or use or misuse of any prize, and (B) have not made any warranty, representation or guarantee, express or implied, in fact or in law, with respect to any prize, including, without limitation, to such prize’s quality or fitness for a particular purpose. WEBTOON assumes no responsibility for any damage to an entrant’s computer system or other device which is occasioned by accessing the Service (whether through website or app) or otherwise participating in the Contest, or for any computer system, phone line, hardware, software or program malfunctions, or other errors, failures, delayed computer transmissions or network connections that are human or technical in nature.  Without limiting the generality of the foregoing, WEBTOON is not responsible for incomplete, illegible, misdirected, misprinted, late, lost, damaged, stolen, or postage-due submissions or prize notifications; or for lost, interrupted, inaccessible or unavailable networks, servers, satellites, Internet service providers, websites, or other connections; or for miscommunications, failed, jumbled, scrambled, delayed, or misdirected computer, telephone or cable transmissions; or for any technical malfunctions, failures, difficulties or other errors of any kind or nature; or for the incorrect or inaccurate capture of information, or the failure to capture any information. 

In the event WEBTOON is prevented from awarding prizes or continuing with the Contest or a particular Contest drawing as contemplated herein by any event beyond its control, including but not limited to fire, flood, natural or man-made epidemic of health of other means, earthquake, explosion, labor dispute or strike, act of God or public enemy, satellite or equipment failure, riot or civil disturbance, terrorist threat or activity, war (declared or undeclared) or any federal state or local government law, order, or regulation, public health crisis (e.g. Coronavirus), order of any court or jurisdiction, or other cause not reasonably within WEBTOON’s control (each a “Force Majeure” event or occurrence), then subject to any governmental approval which may be required, WEBTOON shall have the right to modify, suspend, or terminate the Contest in its entirety, or the affected portion thereof. WEBTOON reserves the right to cancel, suspend and/or modify the Contest, or any part of it, if any fraud, technical failures, human error or any other factor impairs the integrity or proper functioning of the Contest, as determined by WEBTOON in its sole discretion.  If terminated, WEBTOON may, in its sole discretion, determine the winners from among all non-suspect, eligible entries received up to time of such action using the judging procedure outlined above.  WEBTOON, in its sole discretion, reserves the right to disqualify any individual it finds to be tampering with the submission process or the operation of the Contest or to be acting in violation of the Official Rules of this or any other promotion or in an unsportsmanlike or disruptive manner and void all associated entries.  Any attempt by any person to deliberately undermine the legitimate operation of the Contest may be a violation of criminal and civil law, and, should such an attempt be made, WEBTOON reserves the right to seek damages and other remedies (including attorneys’ fees) from any such person to the fullest extent permitted by law.  WEBTOON’s failure to enforce any term of these Official Rules shall not constitute a waiver of that provision. TO THE EXTENT PERMITTED BY LAW, WEBTOON DISCLAIMS ANY LIABILITY FOR DAMAGE TO ANY COMPUTER SYSTEM RESULTING FROM PARTICIPATION IN, OR ACCESSING, POSTING, UPLOADING OR DOWNLOADING INFORMATION IN CONNECTION WITH, THIS CONTEST, AND RESERVES THE RIGHT, IN ITS SOLE DISCRETION, TO MODIFY, CANCEL, TERMINATE OR SUSPEND THIS CONTEST SHOULD ANY VIRUS, BUG, TECHNICAL FAILURES, UNAUTHORIZED HUMAN INTERVENTION OR OTHER CAUSES BEYOND WEBTOON'S REASONABLE CONTROL CORRUPT OR AFFECT THE ADMINISTRATION, SECURITY, FAIRNESS OR PROPER CONDUCT OF THE CONTEST. In the event of any such cancellation, termination or suspension, a notice will be posted on the contest site and the winners will be selected from among all eligible entries received prior to such time. WEBTOON reserves the right, in its sole discretion, to disqualify any entrant from this Contest or any other promotion conducted now or in the future by WEBTOON or any of its affiliates if the entrant's fraud or misconduct adversely affects the integrity of the Contest.

No mechanically reproduced, illegible, incomplete, forged, software-generated or other automated multiple entries will be accepted.  In the event of a dispute as to the identity of the entrant, any entry will be deemed submitted by the authorized account holder of the WEBTOON account and underlying email address from which it was sent, provided such account holder must still meet the eligibility requirements for the Contest.  The authorized account holder shall be the natural person to whom the email address associated with the applicable WEBTOON account has been assigned by the internet access provider, service provider, or other online organization responsible for assigning email addresses for the domain associated with the submitted email address. The potential winner may be requested to provide WEBTOON with proof that the potential winner is the authorized account holder of the email address associated with the winning entry. If a dispute cannot be resolved to WEBTOON’s satisfaction, the entry will be deemed ineligible. 

Only the type and quantity of prizes described in these Official Rules will be awarded.  If, for any reason, more bona fide winners come forward seeking to claim prizes in excess of the number of each type of prize set forth in these Official Rules, the winning entries, or remaining winning entries, as the case may be, associated with the advertised number of prizes available in the prize category in question may be re-judged from among all submissions with purportedly valid claims for such prize(s).  Inclusion in such re-judged prize pool shall be each entrant’s sole and exclusive remedy under such circumstances.  These Official Rules cannot be modified or amended in any way except in a written document issued in accordance with law by a duly authorized representative of WEBTOON.  The invalidity or unenforceability of any provision of these rules shall not affect the validity or enforceability of any other provision.  In the event that any provision is determined to be invalid or otherwise unenforceable or illegal, these rules shall otherwise remain in effect and shall be construed in accordance with their terms as if the invalid or illegal provision were not contained herein.

By participating in this Contest, each entrant accepts the conditions stated in these Official Rules, agrees to be bound by the decisions of WEBTOON, and warrants that the entrant is eligible to participate in this Contest.

14. DISPUTES

Except where prohibited, each entrant agrees that: (1) any and all disputes, claims and causes of action arising out of or connected with this Contest or any prize awarded shall be resolved individually, without resorting to any form of class action, and exclusively by the competent jurisdiction within Los Angeles, California, United States; (2) any and all claims, judgments and awards shall be limited to actual out-of-pocket costs incurred, including costs associated with entering this Contest, but in no event attorneys’ fees; and (3) under no circumstances will any entrant be permitted to obtain awards for, and entrant hereby waives all rights to claim, indirect, punitive, incidental and consequential damages and any other damages, other than for actual out-of-pocket expenses, and any and all rights to have damages multiplied or otherwise increased.  All issues and questions concerning the construction, validity, interpretation and enforceability of these Official Rules, or the rights and obligations of the entrant and WEBTOON in connection with the Contest, shall be governed by, and construed in accordance with, the laws of the State of California without giving effect to any choice of law or conflict of law rules.

15. RULES AND WINNERS LIST

For a copy of the Official Rules or Winners List, send a self-addressed stamped envelope to: Webtoon Short Story Contest - Rules or Webtoon Short Story Contest - Winners, 5750 Wilshire Blvd., Suite 640, Los Angeles, CA 90036, United States. The Winners List will also be posted on https://www.webtoons.com/en/challenge/contest/us-contest-2020