Sound Sessions Rules

Thank you for your participation in the JBL Campus SoundSessions Scholarship Competition. Please review the complete guidelines below prior to submitting your entry.

ELIGIBILITY: The JBL HBCU SoundSessions Scholarship Competition (“Competition”) is open to legal residents of United States who are between the ages of 18 and 25; who are undergraduate students in their freshman, sophomore, or junior year at a Historically Black College or University (HBCU); who have a cumulative GPA of 3.0 or higher; and who have attended all JBL-sponsored SoundSessions Internet access prior to the Competition start date (“Scholarship Competitors”). This Competition is sponsored by Harman international Industries, Inc. 400 Atlantic Street, Stamford, CT 06901 (“Sponsor”). Employees, officers, directors, agents, representatives of Sponsor, the legal, promotion and advertising agencies of any aforementioned entity, and each person or entity connected with the production or administration of the Competition, and each parent company, affiliate, subsidiary, agent and representative of any aforementioned entity are not eligible. Immediate family members of the judging panel are not eligible. This Competition is subject to all applicable federal, state and local laws.

COMPETITION PERIOD: The Competition Submission Period begins on April 6, 2021 at 12PM Pacific Standard Time, and ends on May 1, 2021 at 12PM Pacific Daylight Time (the “Competition Submission Period”). ALL ENTRIES MUST BE SUBMITTED DURING THE COMPETITION SUBMISSION PERIOD. By participating, Scholarship Competitors agree (or Scholarship Competitor’s parent or legal guardian if Scholarship Competitor is a minor) to be bound by these Official Rules and the decisions of the judges and/or Sponsor, which are binding and final on matters relating to this Competition.

HOW TO ENTER: Online Submissions only. Only one (1) submission per natural person. Students who have attended the SoundSessions event will be sent an email communication containing a link to the entry form (“Submission Link”), using the email address they used to register for the SoundSessions event (“dedicated email”). Please note this link is only valid for use with the dedicated email and may not be shared or transferred. Here’s how to enter: (1) access the Submission Link contained in the email; (2) Enter in the requested information, including your name and address, HBCU location, and current GPA, along with other data; (3) Answer the specific questions pertaining to your career goals and the JBL SoundSessions you attended; (4) answer one of the two case study questions provided to you (up to 500 words according to the Submission Guidelines section contained in these rules (“Submission Guidelines”), and attach your answer according to the instructions contained in the Submission Link. Your answer must be submitted in .pdf form.Once you’ve completed the application process, and provided all the information required, press submit to upload your completed submission (your “Submission”).All information provided, including contact information, must be correct, current and valid. Incomplete Submissions, including but not limited to those Submissions that do not meet the requirements specified in these Official Rules, will not be eligible for consideration. Submissions will be deemed to have been submitted by the Authorized Account Holder of the e-mail address submitted at time of Submission (each, a “Scholarship Competitor”). “Authorized Account Holder” is defined as the natural person who is assigned to an e-mail address by an Internet access provider, online service provider, or other organization (such as a business or educational institution) that is responsible for assigning e-mail addresses for the domain associated with the submitted e-mail address. In the event of a dispute over the ownership of an e-mail address, prize will be awarded to the Authorized Account Holder of the designated e-mail address.All Submissions must be received by the Competition end date and time according to the computer time on Sponsor’s server. No hand or mail-in deliveries will be accepted. None of the Scholarship Competition Entities, as defined below, are responsible for late, incomplete, void, corrupted, garbled, misdirected, or otherwise unintelligible Submissions and for any problems, bugs or malfunctions Scholarship Competitors may encounter when submitting their Submissions. Incomplete, garbled, corrupted or otherwise illegible Submissions are void and will not be accepted. Sponsor reserves the right to disqualify any Scholarship Competitor it finds to be tampering with the entry process or the operation of the Competition or violating these Official Rules. Entries generated by a script, bot, macro or other automated means will be disqualified.

SUBMISSION GUIDELINES: Your Submission can be as creative and original as you like, and may include visual elements, a slide show, or any other material that can be contained in a .pdf format. No other response format will be accepted. The Submission must be no larger than 8 8-1/2 by 11 .pdf pages and contain no more than 500 words. All components of the Submission must be created by the person who submits the entry. Scholarship Competitors may not copy or otherwise plagiarize the Submission from any source, nor may the case study answer include third-party copyrighted material without the copyright holder’s permission. By entering, you warrant that your Submission does not infringe any third party’s rights, and that you have obtained all necessary permissions from all relevant third parties to include the Submission. If, in the sole discretion of Sponsor, your Submission constitutes copyright infringement or plagiarism, the Submission will be disqualified. You must hold all rights to the Submission. Scholarship Competitor agrees (or Scholarship Competitor’s parent or legal guardian if Scholarship Competitor is a minor) to indemnify Sponsor against any and all claims of infringement from any third party for any use by Sponsor of the essay Submission. Scholarship Competitors may not be: 1) represented under contract that would limit or impair Sponsor’s ability to use the Written Content and photo in any media form; 2) are under a merchandising agreement; or 3) are under any other contractual relationship, including but not limited to guild and/or union memberships, that may prohibit them from participating fully in this promotion, or from allowing Sponsor to use royalty-free, the Submission worldwide in all media in perpetuity.No Submission may depict any offensive or obscene subject matter as determined in our sole discretion. No Submission shall portray Sponsor in a negative light. We reserve the right to exclude any essay that we believe doesn’t meet the above criteria, at our sole discretion.

JUDGING: All entries will be prescreened to insure the entries have correctly met the Submission Guidelines and meet with Sponsor’s general standards and practices prior to any judging. (“Qualified Submissions”).Pursuant to pre-screening, Judging will be completed in one (1) round.

Judging Round: A panel of qualified judges will conduct judging of all Qualified Submissions received during the Competition Period. Each submission will be judged on the following criteria:
Grammar and Punctuation (10 points)
Creativity (45 points)
Effectively Addresses the Case Study Topic (45 points)
The top scoring Submission shall be deemed the Scholarship Grand Prize recipient and following two top scoring Submissions will be the First Prize Recipient (“Selected Scholarship Recipients”),. Any Submission that is considered by Sponsor in its sole discretion to be obscene, libelous, inapposite to the reputation of Sponsor, or otherwise objectionable or inappropriate, or which otherwise does not comply with these Official Rules will be disqualified. Except as otherwise stated in these Official Rules, personal information collected in connection with this Competition will be used in accordance with the privacy policy found on the Website https://www.jbl.com/privacy-policy.html and with the consent given by Scholarship Competitor at the time of entering a Submission. In the event of a tie, tying entries will be rescored with double-weight given to the creativity score. Any communication or information transmitted to Sponsor and/or the Website by electronic mail or otherwise is and will be treated as non-confidential and nonproprietary. Proof of submitting any Submission is not considered proof of delivery to or receipt of such Submission. Furthermore, Sponsor shall have no liability for any Submission that is lost, intercepted or not received by the Sponsor. Winner will be announced on or about June 17, 2021.

SCHOLARSHIP:
Grand Prize: One (1) Scholarship prize: a $25,000 scholarship, which shall be paid for the benefit of the Selected Scholarship Recipient to directly to the HBCU at which the recipient is a student, to be used for tuition for the following school year. Approximate Retail Value (ARV): $25,000;
First Prize: Two (2) Scholarships prizes: each a $10,000 scholarship (“Scholarship”), which shall be paid directly to HBCU at which the recipients are students, to be used for tuition for the following school year. Approximate Retail Value (“ARV”): $10,000 each.
Total value of all scholarship prizes: $45,000.Selected Scholarship Recipients will be notified by either phone or email at the sole discretion of Sponsor or Sponsor’s representative. Selected Scholarship Recipient will be required to respond (as directed) to a phone and/or e-mail notification within 48 hours of attempted notification. The failure to respond timely to the notification may result in forfeiture of the prize; and, in such case, Sponsor may choose the next highest scoring Submission from among the remaining eligible submissions. Selected Scholarship Recipient will be required to sign and return an Declaration of Eligibility and Liability/Publicity Release (“Declaration”) and any other documents Sponsor or Sponsor’s representative may require within 96 hours of receipt of the Declaration. Scholarship recipient may also be required to submit a transcript as evidence of status and grade point average. Once Declaration is completed, Selected Scholarship Recipient shall be considered a Scholarship Recipient. Failure to timely return a signed Declaration or other required documents or the return of any scholarship notification as undeliverable will result in Prize forfeiture. Federal and state income taxes may apply and are the sole responsibility of the winner. The prize will be reported as scholarship funds which may not be taxable, depending upon the Scholarship Recipient’s legal status. All expenses not specifically stated as being included are excluded, and are the responsibility of the Scholarship Recipient. No assignment, transfer or substitution of Scholarship is permitted, but Sponsor reserves the right to substitute a prize for one of comparable or greater value should Prize become impracticable to award or unavailable for any reason. Sponsor reserves the right to issue the Grand Prize check directly to the Scholarship Recipient.

LICENSE: As a condition of receiving any prize, all Scholarship Competitors hereby provide a One Hundred Eighty (180) day exclusive irrevocable worldwide license to Sponsor to use the Submissions, after which time, Sponsor shall retain a perpetual non-exclusive license to use the Submissions in any and all media throughout the world, in perpetuity, for any purpose whatsoever, without any additional compensation, the term of which shall be the entire life of the copyright. Should any Scholarship Recipient or Competitor be unwilling or otherwise unable to enter into license, or provide permissions and or releases or otherwise cannot accept or receive the prize for any reason, Scholarship Competitor with the next highest score will be chosen from the remaining entries until one who is able to meet all requirements can be selected. Selected Scholarship Recipients must provide Sponsor with all signatures on required paperwork and return all documents in a timely manner as required pursuant to these Official Rules in order to be eligible to receive the prize. Scholarship Competitors may not resell, assign or transfer any of their rights in their Submissions under these Official Rules.Scholarship Competitors will not be paid for any part of their Submissions or for granting Sponsor any of these rights.

CONDITIONS. Competition is subject to these Official Rules. By participating, Scholarship Competitors agree: (i) to be bound by these complete Official Rules and the decisions of Sponsor which shall be final and binding; and (ii) to waive any right to claim ambiguity in the Competition or these Official Rules, except where prohibited by law. By accepting a prize, Selected Scholarship Recipient agrees (or Scholarship Competitor’s parent or legal guardian if Scholarship Competitor is a minor) to release Sponsor and Administrator, including its parent, subsidiary and affiliated entities together with the respective directors, employees, officers, licensees, licensors and agents, and respective advertising and promotion entities and any person or entity associated with the production, judging, or administration of the Competition (collectively, the “Releasees”) from any and all liability, loss or damage arising from or in connection with awarding, receipt and/or use or misuse of prize or participation in any prize-related activities. Releases shall not be liable for: (i) telephone system, telephone or computer hardware, software or other technical or computer malfunctions, lost connections, disconnections, delays or transmission errors; (ii) data corruption, theft, destruction, unauthorized access to or alteration of entry or other materials; (iii) any injuries, losses or damages of any kind, including death caused by the prize or resulting from acceptance, possession or use of a prize, or from participation in the Competition; or (iv) any printing, typographical, administrative or technological errors in any materials associated with the Competition. Sponsor disclaims any liability for damage to any computer system resulting from participating in, or accessing or downloading information in connection with this Competition. Sponsor reserves the right to cancel or suspend the Competition, in its sole discretion, should it receive fewer than 5 entries, or receive no entries that have a judged score above 60 points, or due to circumstances beyond its control, including natural disasters. Submissions will not be returned and may be destroyed. The internal laws of the State of New York will govern disputes regarding these Official Rules and/or this Competition. All cases and claims pertaining to this Competition must be brought in a court of competent jurisdiction in New York.Sponsor reserves the right, in its sole discretion, to cancel, modify or suspend the Competition should a virus, bug, computer problem, unauthorized intervention or other causes beyond Sponsor’s control, corrupt the administration, security or proper play of the Competition. Sponsor may prohibit an entrant from participating in the Competition or winning prize if, in its sole discretion, it determines such entrant is attempting to undermine the legitimate operation of the Competition in any way by cheating, hacking, deception, or any other unfair playing practices of intending to annoy, abuse, threaten or harass any other players or Sponsor representatives. Use of automated entry devices or programs is prohibited. Any attempts to access the site, enter the Competition or increase votes or views via a bot script, device or brute-force attack will result in disqualification, including that IP address becoming ineligible for the entire Competition. CAUTION: ANY ATTEMPT TO DELIBERATELY DAMAGE OR UNDERMINE THE LEGITIMATE OPERATION OF THE COMPETITION MAY BE IN VIOLATION OF CRIMINAL AND CIVIL LAWS AND WILL RESULT IN DISQUALIFICATION FROM PARTICIPATION IN THE COMPETITION. SHOULD SUCH AN ATTEMPT BE MADE, SPONSOR RESERVES THE RIGHT TO SEEK REMEDIES AND DAMAGES (INCLUDING ATTORNEY FEES) TO THE FULLEST EXTENT OF THE LAW, INCLUDING CRIMINAL PROSECUTION.

PUBLICITY. Sponsor reserves the right to use the Submissions to the Competition for publicity purposes prior to, during, or after the Competition end date, in any media, and to use the name, likeness, hometown name, of any Scholarship Competitor, including all or part of their essay throughout the world, in perpetuity, without any compensation or prior review unless specifically prohibited by law. Taxes, if any, are the sole responsibility of Selected Scholarship Recipient, and Scholarship Competitors may be issued an IRS Form 1099 for the ARV of any awarded prize.

WAIVER OF JURY TRIAL. Except as prohibited by applicable law and as a condition of participating in this Competition, each Scholarship Competitor hereby irrevocably and perpetually waives any right s/he may have to a trial by jury in respect of any litigation directly or indirectly arising out of, under or in connection with this Competition, any document or agreement entered into in connection herewith, any prize available in connection herewith, and any of the transactions contemplated hereby or thereby.

PRIVACY. Information collected shall be consider under our privacy policy as conducting marketing activities and providing services. Accordingly, any such personal information collected through the competition shall be handled accordingly, under the terms of our privacy policy, located here. In addition, entrants shall receive email correspondence from, or on behalf of Sponsor, via electronic communication. This information will not be sold to third party vendors not affiliated with Sponsor. All personal information will be held on servers located in the United States. Sponsor will use reasonable commercial efforts to comply with Federal CAN-SPAM guidelines, and entrants may subsequently opt-out of receiving further emails by following the opt-out instructions contained in any email communications received. Any questions regarding privacy matters should be directed to: privacy@harman.com

OFFICIAL RULES and WINNERS LIST. For a copy of these Official Rules or of the winner, please see this link after July 15, 2021 [link].