The following are the rules for the Rock Your Scar® Photo Contest:

1. All photos entered must be of someone who has a congenital heart defect (CHD)/congenital heart disease. This means you were born with a congenital heart defect.

2. EACH PERSON MAY SUBMIT ONE PHOTO ONLY IN THE CONTEST. If a contestant is 17 years or younger, the person entering the contestant's photo in the contest must be their legal guardian or have the legal guardian's permission to enter the contestant.

3. Photos will be judged by an independent panel of judges with points for:

Photo quality -- The quality score takes into consideration clarity, lighting, definition, and overall quality of the photo. The quality score will NOT be higher or lower for professional photos.
Originality
Creativity – includes use of imagination and uniqueness.
Demonstrating the contest theme of Rock Your Scar and embracing your CHD.
No physical scars are required, and there is NO advantage or disadvantage given to photos showing physical scars.

4. PHOTOS THAT USE A FILTER, USE A GREEN SCREEN, OR ARE WRITTEN ON ELECTRONICALLY WILL BE DISQUALIFIED FROM JUDGING. There may be signs or other writing that the people in the photo are holding or that are placed somewhere in the photo.

5. Winners may not win more than once in a three-year period – either in the same age category or in different age categories.

6. There will be NO advantage or disadvantage to having a professional photo over a candid photo. Professional photos are permitted so long as they contain the watermark giving proper credit to the photographer or photography studio.

7. Photos must be tasteful and appropriate for all ages. Showing scars is fine, but please be sure that this is done tastefully and in a manner that is G-rated. No graphic medical photos (these are not permitted on YouTube).

8. It is highly recommended, but not required, that the photo be a fairly recent photo of the person with CHD.

9. All photos must be submitted no later than January 31, 2024 at 11:59 p.m. EST.

10. There will one winner per age group, and winners will be notified by email or phone. Please be sure that the email you provide is the one you check often. A panel of independent judges will review every individual entry to select the winners. Votes on the contest site will not be used to determine the overall winners for each age group. Winners will be announced during CHD Awareness Week at 8 PM EST each day. See the official terms and conditions disclaimer for more details.

11. There will be a People’s Choice winner which will be the photo that receives the most overall votes in the contest (there not a People’s Choice winner for each age group). Also, the bereavement category winner, Angels Rock Too, will be the one with the most votes.

Terms & Conditions Disclaimer

Mended Little Hearts®, The Mended Hearts Inc., Facebook, any participating sponsors, and any of their respective parent companies, subsidiaries, affiliates, directors, officers, professional advisors, employees and agencies (collectively, the "Released Parties") will not be responsible for any printing or typographical errors in any materials associated with the Contest.

Contest Period. The Contest starts January 1, 2024 through January 31, 2024 at 11:59PM EST (the "Contest Period"). All entries must be received during the Contest Period to be eligible to win a prize. The winners will be announced daily (by age group) during the week of February 7-14, 2024 via Facebook.

Mended Little Hearts Submissions. Mended Little Hearts and The Mended Hearts, Inc. may display all Submissions on their Social Media pages, such as but not limited to, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter. By uploading your Submission, you agree that your Submission conforms to the Submission Guidelines and Content Restrictions listed below (collectively, the “Guidelines and Restrictions”) and that Mended Little Hearts and The Mended Hearts, Inc. in its sole discretion, may remove your Submission and disqualify you from the Contest if it believes, in its sole discretion, that your Submission fails to conform to the Guidelines and Restrictions. By uploading your Submission, in addition to rights granted below, you: (a) grant to Mended Little Hearts and The Mended Hearts, Inc. all rights necessary to display your Submission on Mended Little Hearts Facebook page, Twitter, Instagram, website and other Mended Little Hearts venues; (b) hereby waive any so-called moral (e.g., creative rights) in your Submission; (c) represent and warrant that you have the right to grant the rights granted in these Official Rules; and (d) represent and warrant that your Submission and its use as contemplated in these Official Rules does not and will not violate, misappropriate, or infringe upon any law or regulation or the rights of any third party, including any copyright, trademark, or any rights of publicity or privacy, or any other intellectual property or proprietary rights.

Content Restrictions: The Submission must not contain material that violates, misappropriates, or infringes upon any law or regulation or the rights of any third party, including any copyright, trademark, or any rights of publicity or privacy, or any other intellectual property or proprietary rights; The Submission must not disparage any person or entity; The Submission must not contain material that is inappropriate, indecent, obscene, hateful, tortious, and/or defamatory; The Submission must not contain material that promotes bigotry, racism, hatred or harm against any group or individual or promotes discrimination based on race, gender, religion, nationality, disability, sexual orientation or age; and The Submission must not contain material that is unlawful, in violation of or contrary to the laws or regulations in any jurisdiction where Submission is created. The Submission may not contain any text on the photo, except for a photographer’s watermark.

For All Submissions: Entrant must have signed permission from all individuals (parents/legal guardian of children, if featured and if not your own) that appear in the Submission to use their name and image in the Submission and to grant the rights set forth herein. By uploading a Submission, entrant grants to Mended Little Hearts and The Mended Hearts, Inc. (and The Mended Hearts Inc. licensees and assigns) a royalty-free, irrevocable, perpetual, non-exclusive license to use, reproduce, modify, publish, create derivative works from, and display such Submissions in whole or in part, and otherwise exploit the Submission in all media now known or hereafter devised throughout the universe, in any way Mended Little Hearts and The Mended Hearts, Inc. see fit including, but not limited to, entertainment, instruction/education, and promotional, advertising and/or marketing purposes. In connection with all rights granted herein, The Mended Hearts, Inc. (and The Mended Hearts, Inc. licensees and assigns) shall also have the irrevocable right to incorporate Submissions, in whole or in part, into other works, in any form, media or technology now known or hereafter developed. Mended Little Hearts and The Mended Hearts, Inc. will also be able to use submitter’s full first name and the first initial of last name in relation to submissions with any form of publication. If necessary, entrant will sign any necessary documentation that may be required for The Mended Hearts, Inc. or its designees to make use of the non-exclusive rights entrant is granting to use the Submission.

General Release. By entering the Contest, you release Mended Little Hearts and The Mended Hearts, Inc., and their agents from any liability whatsoever, and waive any and all causes of action, for any claims, costs, injuries, losses, or damages of any kind arising out of or in connection with the Contest or delivery, mis-delivery, acceptance, possession, or use for inability to use any Prize (including, without limitation, claims, costs, injuries, losses and damages related to personal injuries, death, damage to or destruction of property, rights of publicity or privacy, defamation or portrayal in a false light, whether intentional or unintentional), whether under a theory of contract, tort (including negligence), warranty or other theory.