BET's Project CRE8: TV

“PROJECT CRE8”
A screenplay competition sponsored by BET

OFFICIAL RULES

NO PURCHASE OR PAYMENT NECESSARY TO ENTER OR WIN THIS COMPETITION. A PURCHASE OR PAYMENT WILL NOT INCREASE YOUR CHANCES OF WINNING. THIS COMPETITION IS VOID WHERE PROHIBITED BY LAW.
PLEASE READ THESE COMPETITION OFFICIAL RULES (“OFFICIAL RULES”) CAREFULLY, AS THEY CONTAIN IMPORTANT INFORMATION REGARDING YOUR RIGHT TO BRING A LAWSUIT IN COURT TO RESOLVE ANY DISPUTES ARISING HEREUNDER. These Official Rules state that any dispute between you and Sponsors (defined below) regarding the Competition must be resolved in binding arbitration on an individual basis, and in any event may not proceed on a class basis or otherwise seek class-wide relief.

1. Competition Overview:

A. “Sponsors”: Black Entertainment Television, LLC d/b/a BET Networks (“BET” or “Network”) and BET Productions IV, LLC (“Producer”), are the sponsors of this Competition and are collectively referred to as Sponsors in these Official Rules, where appropriate.

B. “Competition”: BET is looking for the next great comedy writer. To enter this skills-based screenplay competition, complete the application, agree to these Official Rules and submit an original half-hour length television pilot screenplay, synopsis, logline and other materials at https://filmfreeway.com/CRE8 (“Site”).

C. “Prize”: The winning screenplay will be purchased by Sponsors for $25,000 and will further develop the script with Tracy Oliver’s production company, Tracy Yvonne Productions, for series consideration at BET.

2. “Submission Period”: The entry period for the Competition begins January 26, 2020 at 12:01 AM Pacific Standard Time and ends April 18, 2020 at 11:59 PM Pacific Standard Time. The Site’s server clock shall serve as the official time keeping device for the Competition.

3. “Eligibility Requirements”: The Competition is open only to individuals who meet the following Eligibility Requirements at the time of entry (“Entrant”):

A. Must be at least 21 years of age or older at the time of entry.

B. Must be a legal resident of the fifty (50) United States or the District of Columbia and eligible to work in the United States at the time of entry.

C. Must not, in any single calendar year, have earned more than $10,000 as a screenwriter or director for theatrical films or television, or for the sale of, or sale of an option to, any original story, treatment, screenplay, or teleplay.

D. Entrants may not have been convicted of, or charged with, a felony or a crime of moral turpitude. By entering, each Contest entrant understands and agrees that, if selected as a potential Finalist, he/she will be required to consent to a background check to verify eligibility; and, failure to sign such consents and authorizations and/or to furnish all required information will result in disqualification. In addition, Sponsor reserves the right in its sole discretion, to disqualify a potential Finalist if the results of such background check reveal that such potential Finalist is not eligible to participate in the Contest or has been convicted of, or charged with, a felony or crime of moral turpitude, as determined by Sponsor in its sole discretion.

E. May not be, or have an immediate family member (including, without limitation, spouse, ex-spouse, domestic partner, ex-domestic partner, parents, grandparents, siblings, children, and step-children), and/or those living in entrant’s household (whether or not related) who is, an employee, officer, or board member of any of the following, either currently or within the last two (2) years:

1. BET, or any of its respective affiliated or subsidiary companies (including, without limitation, MTV, MTV2, MTVU, VH1, COMEDY CENTRAL, TV LAND, PARAMOUNT NETWORK, CMT, LOGO, NICKELODEON, NICK-AT-NITE, CBS, POP, or SHOWTIME);

2. CSM Sports and Entertainment, Inc.;

3. Pipeline Media Group, LLC;

4. Any person or entity supplying prizes and/or services to the Competition or the Project; or

5. Judges or any other person or entity involved in the development, production, distribution or other exploitation of the Project or any variation thereof.

F. By entering the Competition, entrants represent that they satisfy the above Eligibility Requirements (to the best of their knowledge), as of the date of entry. Sponsors are relying on the accuracy of these representations and each entrant agrees that if he or she discovers that any of his or her representations are inaccurate or incomplete, the entrant shall immediately notify Producer. Competition entrants who satisfy all of the above requirements are referred to as “Participants.” The entities and individuals described above in Paragraph 3.E.1-5 are collectively referred to in these Official Rules as “Competition Entities.”

4. Content Requirements:

A. “Initial Submission”: To enter the Competition, each Participant must submit the following materials at the Site during the Submission Period:

1. An original half-hour comedy television pilot screenplay (“Screenplay”). Further technical requirements for the Screenplay submission are described in Section 5, below;

2. Logline (50 words or less);

3. Synopsis (250 words or less), which includes a plot summary; description of major characters, setting, and time period; and the most important conflicts in the story;

4. A signed Acknowledgement of these Official Rules; and

5. A signed Screenplay & Submitted Material License.

B. Limit: One (1) entry per Participant(s).

C. Theme: Screenplays must (a) tell a story that depicts an aspect of the range of experiences of (and/or issues facing) people of African descent and (b) feature characters of color.

D. Screenplays must be the original work and sole property of the Participant(s) submitting them. Screenplays that are collaborative works of no more than two writer(s) will be accepted so long as (i) each writer of the team submits an application and e-signs these Official Rules and the Screenplay & Submitted Material License; (ii) the names of both writers are included in each application with one writer identified as the primary contact; (iii) there are no more than two (2) writers; (iv) each writer satisfies all Eligibility Requirements set forth in Section 3, above, and is otherwise in compliance with and agrees to these Official Rules and the Screenplay & Submitted Material License.

E. Sponsors are not soliciting the creation of new screenplays.

F. Screenplays may be in any genre, but must be intended for production as a live-action (not animated) television series.

G. Screenplays must not have been previously optioned, sold, licensed or produced as a live stage production, theatrical motion picture, television or online program.

H. Screenplays must not have won a previous screenwriting competition. If prior to entering the Competition, Participant previously submitted the Screenplay into another screenwriting competition(s), then Participant must disclose the name of the other competition at the time of entry. Sponsors reserve the right to remove such Screenplay from the Competition. By submitting a Screenplay, Participant represents, warrants and covenants that it will not be entered into any other contest or competition until the Winner is announced.

I. Screenplays must not include material that: (i) defames any individual or entity; (ii) invades the privacy or misappropriates publicity rights of any third party; (iii) infringes the copyright of any third party or is otherwise unlawful or infringing; or (iv) is harmful to users of the Site or could adversely impact the Competition, Site, other Participants.

J. Participant acknowledges that Sponsors and Competition Entities may have motion pictures, television programs, and other creative materials in development or production that include ideas, concepts, plots, characters, settings, and themes similar to Participant’s Screenplay and that Participant will not be entitled to any compensation or right to negotiate with Sponsors because of any such similarities. Nothing in these Official Rules or related materials shall create an implied or express contract to compensate Participants for their screenplays, except as specifically described in these Official Rules.

K. Producer reserves the right to notify any Participant of Producer’s interest in negotiating directly with Participant to develop and potentially produce a work based on the Screenplay. If Participant agrees to move forward with such negotiation, Participant’s submitted Screenplay will not move forward in subsequent rounds of the Competition.

L. Producer recommends that Participants register their Screenplays with the U.S. Copyright Office. Participants must retain all rights in their Screenplays throughout the Competition, so that if the Participant wins the Competition, Participant can assign rights in and to the Screenplay to Producer for production of the winning Screenplay, free of any limitations, restrictions or third party obligations.

5. Technical Requirements:

A. Screenplays must be standard half-hour comedy length (20-35 pages), 12 point Courier font, written in English, and formatted using industry-accepted standards, available through software such as Final Draft, Celtx, etc.

B. Participant names or other identifiers must not be included anywhere on the Screenplay or title page.

C. No hard copy submissions will be accepted.

D. Loglines must be 50 words or less.

E. Synopses must be 250 words or less.

F. New drafts, substitutions or corrected pages will not be accepted after initial submission of each Screenplay. Producer will not be responsible for submissions that are incomplete, lost, unintelligible, misdirected, or damaged while in transit.

6. Competition Structure:

A. 1st Round:

1. Initial Submissions that do not conform to technical requirements in these Official Rules will be automatically disqualified.

2. Each Initial Submission that satisfies all the requirements in these Rules will be reviewed by at least one (1) member of a team of experienced independent screenplay evaluators and ranked based on the following criteria (“Criteria”) on a scale from 1 (poor) to 10 (outstanding), with each evaluator assigning a number score for each of the listed criteria that will be added together to arrive at a total score for the Submission (with a minimum score of 8 and a maximum score of 80):

a) Originality b) Plot Structure c) Character Development d) Dialogue e) Theme f) Audience Appeal g) Humor h) Ability to be produced for $1 million or less, i.e., “Produceabilty.”

3. The thirty (30) Initial Submissions with the highest aggregate scores based on the Criteria will advance to the 2nd Round (“Top 30”).

4. In the event of a tie, the tied Initial Submission(s) with the highest scores in Audience Appeal and Humor combined will become part of the Top 30 and move forward to the 2nd Round. If the Initial Submission(s) are still tied, then the Initial Submission with the highest score in Originality will move forward to the 2nd Round.

B. 2nd Round / Semi-Finalists:

1. “Second Round Submission”: Participants who advance to the 2nd Round will be contacted by email and must submit the following additional material (Treatment Materials) by the deadline(s) specified by Sponsors:

a) A series treatment of no more than 5 pages addressing the following prompts:

i) Season One synopsis
ii) Season One episode descriptions for no more than ten episodes
iii) Series Synopsis
iv) Character descriptions

2. Each of the Top 30 Screenplays and treatments will be reviewed by a minimum of two (2) BET and/or Tracy Yvonne Productions executives who will rank the Top 30 Screenplays based on the Criteria. An additional criterion for Round 2 will included:

a) Quality of Treatment Materials.

In this round, each evaluator will assign a number score for each of the listed criteria that will be added together to arrive at a total score for the Submission (with a minimum score of 9 and a maximum score of 90):

3. The top five (5) Initial Submissions from the Top 30 with the highest aggregate scores based on the Criteria will advance to the 3rd Round. In the event of a tie, the tied Screenplay(s) with the highest score(s) in Audience Appeal and Humor combined will advance to the 3rd Round. If a tie persists, the tied Screenplay(s) with the highest score(s) in Originality will break the tie.

C. 3rd Round / Finalists:

1. “Finalists” will be those Participants who:

a) Receive the highest score from the 2nd Round;

b) Submit their Second Round Submission within the deadline(s) set by Sponsors;

2. The five (5) Finalists will pitch their projects via Skype or other video conferencing software to a panel of judges, consisting of BET and Tracy Yvonne Productions executives, who will evaluate, and rank Finalists’ projects based on the “Pitch Criteria.”

3. Judges will be required to recuse themselves from hearing pitches from Participants if Sponsors determine that recusal is necessary to avoid the appearance of impropriety.

4. Judges will score on a scale from 1 (poor) to 10 (outstanding) the projects by the following Speed Pitch Criteria:

a. Audience Appeal;
b. Ability To Convey Idea;
c. Passion/Commitment;
d. Produceability.

5. The Finalist with the highest aggregate score will become the “Winner,” subject to meeting the requirements stated below. POTENTIAL WINNER IS SUBJECT TO VERIFICATION BY SPONSOR, WHOSE DECISIONS ARE FINAL AND BINDING IN ALL MATTERS RELATED TO THE COMPETITION. A PARTICIPANT IS NOT THE WINNER UNLESS AND UNTIL PARTICIPANT’S ELIGIBILITY HAS BEEN VERIFIED AND PARTICIPANT HAS BEEN NOTIFIED THAT VERIFICATION IS COMPLETE.

6. In the event of a tie, the tied Finalist(s) with the highest aggregate scores in Audience Appeal will be selected as the Winner. If there’s still a tie, the Finalist with the highest score in Produceability will be selected as the Winner of the Competition.

7. Selection and Announcement of Winner: The Winner will be announced on April 30, 2020. To receive the name of the Winner, send an email to winnerslist@csm.com. Requests must be received by May 3, 2020.

8. Prize/Winner’s Obligations:

A. There will be one (1) Prize awarded in this Competition: The winning Screenplay will be purchased by Sponsors for $25,000 (“Winning Screenplay”).

B. Sponsors (or their successors or licensees) will enter into a standard purchase agreement with the Winner to acquire all rights, title, and interest in and to the winning Screenplay (“Purchase Agreement”) for $25,000 (“Screenplay Purchase Price”). If the Winner does not execute the Purchase Agreement for any reason, the Winner will be deemed to have forfeited the Prize, and Sponsors reserve the right to award the Prize to the Finalist with the next highest score as an alternate winner.

C. The Prize will be awarded subject to the condition that the Winner is and remains in compliance with the Official Rules and Screenplay & Submitted Material License at all times during the Competition and through the development and production of the Project. The Prize cannot be substituted, shared, assigned, transferred, or exchanged. If the Winner is found to be ineligible or in violation of the representations and warranties in these Official Rules, Winner will forfeit her/his/their entitlement to the Prize.

D. If the Winner engages in (1) criminal conduct; (2) behavior (or makes statements), including, without limitation, on social media platforms that is obnoxious, inappropriate, threatening, or illegal, or which shocks, insults or offends a substantial portion of the community or reflects unfavorably on Winner and Sponsors in a significant and material way; (3) behavior that is intended to abuse, threaten, or harass any other person, Producer reserves the right to terminate Participant’s right to receive the Prize. In either case, Sponsors will determine in Sponsors’ sole discretion whether to award the Prize to the Participant in second place, or another alternate if such second place winner is disqualified.

E. Winner will be required to sign and deliver additional documents to confirm Winner’s grant of rights to the Screenplay and other submitted materials to Producer (“Additional Documents”). If Winner does not complete and return Additional Documents within 5 business days after Producer’s (or its designee’s) request, Winner hereby irrevocably appoints Producer as Winner’s attorney-in-fact with the full power to execute, acknowledge the Additional Documents and to record the Additional Documents in the U.S. Copyright Office or elsewhere. Winner’s appointment of Producer as its attorney-in-fact is coupled with an interest.

F. Winner is solely responsible for all federal, state, and/or local taxes that may be come due as a result of Winner’s receipt of the Prize and another compensation received during the Competition (e.g., Scene Budget, etc.). An IRS Form 1099 may be issued in the name of the Winner for the value of the Prize and for any other compensation or funds provided to Winner in connection with the Competition and Project.

G. If any Participant is a member of a collective bargaining organization, such Participant is solely responsible for determining whether Participant’s participation in the Competition and Project complies with Participant’s obligations under collective bargaining agreements. Sponsors reserve the right to address any union or guild issues arising from this Competition in its absolute discretion, including disqualifying any Finalist or Winner who would otherwise cause Producer to violate a union or guild agreement.

9. Consent to use Name and Likeness: Except where legally prohibited, each Participant grants permission to Producer, Sponsors, Competition Entities, and Network and their respective agents, representatives and designees to use Participant’s name, address, photograph, voice, likeness, and Prize information for advertising, promotional or other purposes in all forms of media, now known or developed later, worldwide, without further compensation, notice or permission.

10. Representations and Warranties: By entering the Competition, Participant represents and warrants that: (a) except for elements that are in the public domain, all elements of the Screenplay are wholly original and are not a copy of imitation of other material; (b) Participant has the right to grant all rights granted to Producer in these Official Rules and Producer may exercise such rights without obligation or liability to any third party; (c) the Screenplay will not defame nor infringe the rights of any third party, including, without limitation, copyright, privacy rights, false light; (d) the Screenplay is not the subject of any threatened litigation or dispute that could give rise to a litigation; (e) Participant has not previously optioned, sold or otherwise transferred rights to the Screenplay to any third party; (f) Participant has satisfied all Eligibility Requirements in these Rules at the time of entry into the Competition and will notify Producer and/or Network if circumstances change which would make Participant ineligible; (g) Participant created the Screenplay without knowledge of the Competition.

11. No Obligation to Use: There is no guarantee that that the Winning Screenplay will be produced or distributed. Moreover, Sponsors reserve the right not to produce, release, or otherwise exhibit, distribute or exploit the Winning Screenplay.

12. Privacy: By entering this Competition, Participant consents to the use of information submitted in connection with the Competition in accordance with the Site’s Privacy Policy, and as described in these Official Rules.

13. Indemnification: Participant will indemnify and hold harmless the Released Parties (defined below) from any third party claims arising from Participant’s failure to comply with the Eligibility Requirements and/or breach of the representations, warranties, and covenants in these Official Rules.

14. Compliance with Rules: All determinations by Producer shall be in Producer's sole and absolute discretion and shall be final and binding on all Participants. By entering the Competition, each Participant agrees to be bound by these Rules and to accept all decisions regarding the Competition as binding, final and not subject to challenge, review or appeal.

15. Rule Modification: Producer may, in its sole discretion, amend, delete, suspend, change, supersede and/or otherwise modify or replace these Rules prior to or during development or production, whether in writing or orally, and Participants shall be bound thereby.

16. Governing Law: All disputes concerning the interpretation, validity and enforcement of these Rules or the rights and obligations of Participants, Producer, Network or the Released Parties in connection with the Competition will be resolved in accordance with the internal laws of the State of New York, without giving effect to any choice of law or conflict of law rules or provisions that would cause the application of any other laws.

17. Limitations of Liability: The Released Parties are not responsible for: (a) any injury or damage to persons or property that may be caused, directly or indirectly, in whole or in part, from Participant’s participation in the Competition or the Project; (b) technical failures of any kind; (c) technical or human error that may occur in the administration of the Competition or processing of submissions; (d) incorrect information, whether caused by Participants, printing errors or any equipment used in the Competition; or (e) any inability of the Winner to accept or use any prize for any reason.
BY PARTICIPATING IN THIS COMPETITION, ENTRANT AGREES THAT SPONSORS, COMPETITION ENTITIES AND THEIR PARENT COMPANY, AFFILIATES, SUBSIDIARIES, REPRESENTATIVES, CONSULTANTS, CONTRACTORS, LEGAL COUNSEL, ADVERTISING, PUBLIC RELATIONS, PROMOTIONAL, FULFILLMENT AND MARKETING, WEBSITE PROVIDERS, WEB MASTERS, AND THEIR RESPECTIVE OFFICERS, DIRECTORS, EMPLOYEES, REPRESENTATIVES, AND AGENTS (THE “RELEASED PARTIES”) WILL HAVE NO LIABILITY WHATSOEVER FOR, AND SHALL BE HELD HARMLESS BY ENTRANTS AGAINST, ANY LIABILITY FOR ANY INJURIES, LOSSES OR DAMAGES OF ANY KIND TO PERSONS, INCLUDING PERSONAL INJURY OR DEATH, OR PROPERTY RESULTING IN WHOLE OR IN PART, DIRECTLY OR INDIRECTLY, FROM OR PARTICIPATION IN THIS COMPETITION OR ANY COMPETITION RELATED ACTIVITY, OR ANY CLAIMS BASED ON PUBLICITY RIGHTS, DEFAMATION OR INVASION OF PRIVACY. THE RELEASED PARTIES ARE NOT RESPONSIBLE IF ANY PRIZE CANNOT BE AWARDED DUE TO CANCELLATIONS, DELAYS, OR INTERRUPTIONS DUE TO ACTS OF GOD, ACTS OF WAR, NATURAL DISASTERS, WEATHER, OR TERRORISM. BY PARTICIPATING IN THIS COMPETITION, ENTRANT AGREES THAT THE RELEASED PARTIES WILL NOT BE RESPONSIBLE OR LIABLE FOR ANY INJURIES, DAMAGES, OR LOSSES OF ANY KIND, INCLUDING DIRECT, INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, CONSEQUENTIAL, OR PUNITIVE DAMAGES TO PERSONS, INCLUDING DEATH, OR TO PROPERTY ARISING OUT OF ACCESS TO AND USE OF ANY WEBSITE ASSOCIATED WITH THIS COMPETITION OR THE DOWNLOADING FROM AND/OR PRINTING MATERIAL DOWNLOADED FROM SUCH SITE.

18. No Rescission or Injunctive Relief: All rights granted to Producer under these Official Rules are irrevocably vested at the time of submission. To the maximum extent permitted by law, no breach by Producer of these Official Rules will entitle Participants to equitable relief, whether injunctive or otherwise; and Participant explicitly waives the right to seek or obtain any form of equitable relief, including the right to enjoin the development, production, exploitation and/or marketing of the Winning Screenplay. Participants’ sole remedy for any breach of these Official Rules or any other dispute related to this Competition shall be an action at law for solely for compensatory damages. To the maximum extent permitted by applicable law, Participant expressly waives all rights to seek incidental, consequential, special, punitive damages, or lost profits.

19. Waiver: Sponsor’s failure to enforce any term of these Official Rules shall not constitute a waiver of that provision.

20. Severability: Should any provision in these Official Rules be deemed void, invalid, illegal, unenforceable or inoperative, such invalid, illegal, unenforceable or inoperative section or provision shall not affect any other section or provision hereof, and the remainder of these Official Rules shall be effective as though such void, invalid, illegal, unenforceable or inoperative section or provision had not been contained herein.

21. Suspension / Termination: Sponsors have the right to modify, suspend, or terminate the Competition, if an event beyond Sponsors’ control prevents Sponsors from continuing with the Competition (e.g., fire, flood, labor dispute, war, terrorist threat) (each, a “force majeure event”). Additionally, Sponsors reserve the right to cancel, suspend and/or modify the Competition, or any part of it, if any fraud, technical failures or any other factor beyond Sponsors’ reasonable control impairs the integrity or proper functioning of the Competition, as determined by Sponsors in their sole discretion. WARNING: ANY ATTEMPT BY A PARTICIPANT OR ANY OTHER INDIVIDUAL TO DELIBERATELY DAMAGE ANY WEB SITE ASSOCIATED WITH THE COMPETITION OR UNDERMINE THE LEGITIMATE OPERATION OF THE COMPETITION MAY BE A VIOLATION OF CRIMINAL AND CIVIL LAW, AND, SHOULD SUCH AN ATTEMPT BE MADE, SPONSORS RESERVE THE RIGHT TO PROSECUTE AND SEEK DAMAGES FROM ANY SUCH PERSON TO THE FULLEST EXTENT PERMITTED BY LAW. Sponsors reserve the right at its sole discretion to disqualify any individual it finds to be attempting to tamper with or undermine the entry process, any website associated with the Competition, and/or the legitimate operation of the Competition; to violate the Official Rules; or to act in an unsportsmanlike or disruptive manner or with the intent to annoy, abuse, threaten, or harass any other person. If, for any reason, the Competition is not capable of running as planned, Sponsors may, in their sole discretion, void any suspect entries and (a) modify the Competition or suspend the Competition to address the impairment and then resume the Competition in a manner that best conforms to the spirit of these Official Rules; or (b) terminate the Competition altogether and not award the Prize, or select the Winner based on the non-suspect Screenplays submitted as of the effective termination date.

22. Inquiries: All inquiries related to this Competition should be sent to: The Project CRE8 Contest, c/o CSM Sports and Entertainment, Inc., 440 9th Avenue, 17th Floor, New York, NY 10001.

23. Release: To the maximum extent permitted by applicable law, Participant, on behalf of Participant and Participant’s heirs, next of kin, spouse or spousal equivalent, guardians, legal representatives, executors, administrators, successors and assigns, (collectively “Releasing Parties”), irrevocably and unconditionally agree not to sue and release the Released Parties from all claims, damages, liabilities, costs, expenses of any kind (including, without limitation, attorneys’ fees) (collectively, “Claims”) using any legal theory (including, without limitation, intentional or negligent infliction of emotional distress, violation of privacy or publicity rights, defamation, false light, breach of implied or express contract, copyright infringement, etc.) arising from participation in the Competition, including, without limitation, the application of the Criteria, selection process, these Official Rules, references to Participant’s Screenplay, production of a project similar to Participant’s Screenplay, or the exhibition or use of any other materials submitted by Participant to Sponsors. WITHOUT LIMITING THE GENERALITY OF THE FOREGOING, SPONSORS SHALL HAVE NO LIABILITY FOR ANY PERSONAL INJURIES, DEATH, PROPERTY DAMAGE, OR OTHER DAMAGES OR EXPENSES RESULTING FROM OR ARISING OUT OF PARTICIPANT’S PARTICIPATION.

24. Arbitration: To the maximum extent permitted by law, all disputes related to the Competition will be resolved, upon the election by Participant or Sponsors, through a binding arbitration administered by Judicial Arbitration and Mediation Services, Inc. (“JAMS”) pursuant to JAMS Streamlined Arbitration Rules and Procedures, which can be found at https://www.jamsadr.com/rules-streamlined-arbitration/. IF ARBITRATION IS CHOSEN BY ANY PARTY WITH RESPECT TO A CLAIM, NEITHER PARTY WILL HAVE THE RIGHT TO LITIGATE THAT CLAIM IN COURT OR HAVE A JURY TRIAL ON THAT CLAIM. FURTHER, NEITHER SPONSORS NOR PARTICIPANT WILL HAVE THE RIGHT TO PARTICIPATE IN A REPRESENTATIVE CAPACITY ON BEHALF OF THE GENERAL PUBLIC OR OTHER PERSONS SIMILARLY SITUATED, OR AS A MEMBER OF ANY CLASS OF CLAIMANTS PERTAINING TO ANY CLAIM SUBJECT TO ARBITRATION. EXCEPT AS SET FORTH BELOW, THE ARBITRATOR’S DECISION WILL BE FINAL AND BINDING. NOTE THAT OTHER RIGHTS THAT PARTICIPANT WOULD HAVE IF PARTICIPANT WENT TO COURT ALSO MAY NOT BE AVAILABLE IN ARBITRATION. The arbitrator’s authority to resolve disputes is limited to dispute between Sponsors and Participants alone, and the arbitrator’s authority to make awards is limited to awards to Sponsors and Participants alone. Furthermore, claims brought by either party against the other may not be joined or consolidated in arbitration with claims brought by or against any third party, unless agreed to in writing by all parties. No arbitration award or decision will have any preclusive effect as to issues or claims in any dispute with anyone who is not a named party to the arbitration. Notwithstanding any other provision in these Official Rules and without waiving either party’s right to appeal such decision, should any portion of this provision be deemed invalid or unenforceable, then the entire provision (other than this sentence) shall not apply. Judgements on the arbitration award may be entered in any court having jurisdiction. This clause shall not preclude parties from seeking provisional remedies in aid of arbitration from a court of appropriate jurisdiction. If arbitration is chosen, the arbitrator selected will be familiar with the entertainment industry. Each party will bear its own costs, including attorneys’ fees. Failure to appear at any arbitration hearing entitles the arbitrator to continue with the proceeding with only one party.
PLEASE READ THESE RULES CAREFULLY AND COMPLETELY AND THEN SIGN THE STATEMENT AT THE END OF THE RULES ACKNOWLEDGING YOUR RECEIPT, REVIEW, UNDERSTANDING AND ACCEPTANCE OF THEM. ONCE THESE RULES HAVE BEEN ACCEPTED, THEY WILL CREATE A BINDING CONTRACT.