Sunbeams – Full terms & conditions for The Sun competition 2021

SUNBEAMS (THE “COMPETITION”) ONLINE RULES:

By entering the Competition, you agree to be bound by these terms and conditions (these Terms and Conditions).  Completion and submission of an entry form or e-mail will also be deemed acceptance of these Terms and Conditions.  Promotional materials relating to the Competition, including all information on how to enter the Competition published in publications of the Promoter (including social media if applicable) or on the Promoter’s websites, also form part of these Terms and Conditions.  In the event of any conflict between any terms referred to in such promotional materials and these Terms and Conditions, these Terms and Conditions take precedence.  

Participation in the Competition

1. Residents of the United Kingdom aged 18 or over only, except employees and agents of the Promoter, News Corp UK & Ireland Limited and anyone otherwise connected with the operation or fulfilment of the Competition (including third party promotional partners) and their respective associated, affiliated or subsidiary companies, and the immediate families and household members of all such employees and agents. 
2. The Competition starts at 00:00 am (UK time) on 15 March 2021 and closes at 23:59 pm (UK time) on 12 April 2021 (the Competition Period). Any entries received outside the Competition Period will be void. 
3. To enter you must submit an unedited photo of your baby using the online entry form at http://www.thesun.co.uk/sunbeams during the Competition Period only.  Submitted photos that are found to have been edited, photoshopped or manipulated with filters will not be accepted as valid entries. Colour photographs are preferred.
4. Babies must be aged two or under on 12 April 2021 and resident of the UK. All entries must be submitted with the permission of the legal parent or guardian of the baby.
5. You may enter more than one baby, but each baby may only be entered once, and each entry must be accompanied by only one photo. Twins must be separately entered.
6. Entries to the Competition must be the original work of the author and not previously published. Entries which are or in the Promoter’s reasonable opinion appear to be plagiarised will be disqualified. Participants represent and warrant that: 
   
   (a) they have obtained all rights, licences, and permissions necessary, in writing, from any person who may have helped create and/or be featured in their entry; and 
   (b) that their entry to the Competition (including any text and photographs): 
   (i) does not contain or feature any personal information about any person (including their name, contact details, a photograph of them and/or any other identifying information) without permission (proof of which must be provided to the Promoter upon request); 
   (ii) does not contain any content that is defamatory, libellous, racist, homophobic, derogatory, pornographic, obscene, sexist, illegal, and/or otherwise inappropriate;
   (iii) does not include trade marks, logos, or copyright protected material which belongs to third parties without permission (including company names, music, photographs, motion picture or television programme clips or audio tracks, works of art, or images published on or in websites, television, movies, or other media); 
   (iv) is not subject to any third party agreements and the Promoter will not be required to pay any sums to any third party as a result of the Promoter’s use (as set out in these Terms and Conditions) or the exploitation by the Promoter of the idea, video or other rights contained in any entry; and 
   (v) does not contain any known virus, trojan horse, worm, trapdoor or similar software that may in any way infect or affect any of the Promoter’s hardware or software systems.  
7. By entering the Competition, you agree that the Promoter is entitled to publish the photograph in any and all media. Publication of a photograph does not mean you have been chosen for a heat, semi-final or final.
8. The Promoter reserves the right to remove or temporarily suspend from the Competition any entries submitted if, in its reasonable opinion, it suspects any breach of these Terms and Conditions or if it receives any complaint from a third party relating to such entry.
9. Entries received which are not submitted via the official entry method will not be accepted. Use of script, macro or any automated system to enter the Competition is prohibited and entries made (or which appear to have been made) using any such system may be treated as void.  Any illegible, incomplete or fraudulent entries will be rejected. Participants should be aware that they may be subject to data charges depending on their own individual arrangements for Internet access if they enter the Competition online or by email.

Winners and Prizes 

10. There will be 1 winner. One prize per winner.
11. a. An independent judge (or panel of judges including at least one independent member) will create a shortlist of 48 babies, based on the following criteria: Cuteness of baby’s smile. 

b. The shortlisted entries will be available for the public to review and vote for a winner via http://thesun.co.uk/sunbeams (“the Vote”).  The voting period take place between 18th April 2021 at 00:00 am and ending on 28th May 2021 at 11.59am (the “Voting Period“).  Participants are prohibited from seeking to obtain votes by any fraudulent or inappropriate means, including, without limitation, offering prizes or other inducements to members of the public, as determined by the Promoter in its reasonable opinion.  Use of script, macro or any automated system to vote or with the intent to impair the integrity of the voting process associated with the Competition is prohibited and votes placed (or which appear to have been placed) using any such system may be treated as void.  

c. At the end of the Voting Period, the Promoter shall review the results of the public vote and shall select the winner based on the number of public votes their entry has received.  In the event of a tie, all tied entries will be judged by an additional, independent judge selected by the Promoter who, using the judging criteria, will break the tie.

12. The judging panel’s decision regarding the shortlist, and the Promoter’s records of votes are final and binding on the entrants. No correspondence will be entered into. The Promoter’s decision in these matters will be final.
13. The prize is £1000 (one thousand pounds) cash.
14. Prizes are as stated and are non-exchangeable and non-transferable.  The winner is responsible for paying all associated costs that are not specifically stated in any Promotional materials or these Terms and Conditions, including (where applicable) transport, accommodation, meal costs, spending money, insurance and all other incidentals.  Winners are also personally responsible for any personal or incidental expenses and any VAT, national and/or local tax liabilities incurred in claiming or using the prize.  By participating in the Competition, participants agree that the prize is awarded on an “as is” basis, and that neither the Promoter nor any of its subsidiary or affiliated companies, make any representations or warranties of any nature with respect to the prize. 
15. In the event that, for reasons beyond the Promoter’s reasonable control the Promoter is unable to award the prize as described in these Terms and Conditions, the Promoter reserves the right to award a prize of a similar nature and an equivalent value.  The Promoter also reserves the right to award a prize of a similar nature and an equivalent value, if in its reasonable discretion it is appropriate to do so.  
16. The Promotor and its affiliates may amend or withdraw any element of a competition, prize draw, vote or poll for reasons beyond their reasonable control, including but not limited to the unavailability of the vote, poll, competition or prize draw entry platform before the closing date, or for strike, lock-out, labour dispute, illness, act of God, natural disaster, adverse weather conditions, war, riot, civil commotion, accident, public health concern in relation to potential infection, epidemic or pandemic, malicious damage, fire, flood and/or storm, compliance with law or governmental order, rule, regulation or direction, breakdown of plant, machinery or transportation.  The Promotor and its affiliates are not responsible for any loss or damage caused to you as a result of any of these occurrences. Therefore the Promoter shall not be responsible if the winner is unable to redeem their prize for any time period as a result of government guidelines or restrictions resulting from COVID-19. No compensation will be made available in these circumstances. 

Winner Announcement and claiming of prize 

17. Winners will be notified by phone or using the other contact details provided to the Promoter by 29 May 2021. All reasonable endeavours will be made to contact the winner during the specified time.  If a winner cannot be contacted or is not available, the Promoter reserves the right to re-draw another winner from the valid/correct entries that were received during the Competition Period. Winners may be required to submit valid identification before receiving their prize.  
18. Winners will be required to confirm acceptance of the applicable prize within 7 days of having being notified. If the winner has not claimed their prize by the date specified or the winner refuses or is unable to provide an eligible postal address for receipt of their prize, the Promoter reserves the right to award the prize to another participant. 
19. The prize will be delivered within a reasonable time and by no later than 28 days after the prize has been accepted.  
20. The Promoter proposes to make available a list of winners, subject to any objections from the relevant individuals. For a copy of the list, please send a stamped self-addressed envelope by no later than 28 days after the end of the Promotion Period to News UK, Promotions Department, 1 London Bridge Street, London, SE1 9GF stating for which Promotion you would like winners’ details.  If a winner objects to this information being made available, they should inform the Promoter at the earliest opportunity using email help@thsun.co.uk. Winners acknowledge that the Promoter may still be required to share their details with the Advertising Standards Authority or other regulators. 

Data Protection and Publicity 

21. The Promoter will collect and process participants’ personal information and it will be shared with the Promoter’s agents, affiliates and, if applicable, any third party prize provider (including those outside the European Economic Area). Information provided by participants will only be used for the purpose of conducting this Competition (including for prizes to be delivered) and other purposes as may be specified at the time of entry or on promotional materials. Personal information will be held in accordance with the applicable privacy policy in place from time to time (see http://www.newsprivacy.co.uk/single/). 
22. By entering, participants agree to allow the free use of their names, photographs and general locations for publicity and news purposes if they are the winner of the Competition, both during this and future promotions by the Promoter or any associated or subsidiary company of News Corp UK & Ireland Limited. This includes making their name available on the Promoter’s websites and social media platforms. The winning baby and their parents/guardians will also be required to participate in reasonable publicity relating to this Competition including coverage in paper and online. 

Intellectual Property 

23. Participants will retain copyright in their submitted entries to the Competition, however, by entering, all entrants grant the Promoter a worldwide, royalty-free, perpetual licence to edit, publish and use each Competition entry in any and all media (including print and online) for publicity and news purposes. Participants represent and warrant that they have all rights necessary to grant the rights provided for in this paragraph 23, and that all materials forming part of their entry to the Competition, and any use of such materials by or on behalf of the Promoter, comply with all applicable laws, rules, and regulations and do not infringe or otherwise violate the intellectual property or other rights of any third party.

General 

24. The Promoter’s decision is final and binding on the entrants. No correspondence will be entered into.
25. If participants do not provide any of the mandatory information requested when participating in the Competition, their entry will be void.
26. The Promoter reserves the right to require the participants to prove that they are eligible. If a winner is found to be ineligible, the Promoter reserves the right to award their prize to another participant and to require the return of any prize already awarded.
27. The provision of the prize does not imply endorsement by the Promoter of any third parties concerned in any way with the Competition.
28. Unless otherwise stated in the promotional materials, this Competition is in no way sponsored, endorsed or administered by, or associated with, the manufacturer or service provider of the relevant prize. You are providing your information to the Promoter and not to the manufacturer or service provider of the relevant prize.
29. Entrants must not do anything illegal and/or dangerous and/or that would put themselves or others at any risk.  Save where it has been negligent, the Promoter will not be responsible for any damage, loss or injury resulting from participants’ entry into the Competition or their acceptance and/or use of the prize, or for technical, hardware or software failures, lost, faulty or unavailable network connections or difficulties of any kind that may limit or prohibit participant’s ability to participate in the Competition.  The Promoter will not be responsible for any lost, damaged, defaced, incomplete, illegible or otherwise unreadable entries.  Proof of posting is not proof of receipt by the Promoter of any entries.  Nothing in these Terms and Conditions shall in any way limit the Promoter’s liability for death or personal injury caused by its negligence or for any other matter where liability may not be limited as a matter of law.
30. The Promoter reserves the right at any time to cancel, modify or supersede the Competition (including altering prizes) if, in its sole discretion, the Competition is not capable of being conducted as specified. In the event of a printing or other error resulting in there being more winners than prizes for the Competition, the Promoter reserves the right to (a) declare as void any claims or entries resulting from such printing or other error; and/or (b) allocate the available prize(s) through a further draw or to divide the prize(s) or the value of the prize(s) between the winners of the Competition.
31. Any participant who enters or attempts to enter the Competition in a manner, which in the Promoter’s reasonable opinion is contrary to these Terms and Conditions or by its nature is unjust to other entrants (including tampering with the operation of the Competition, cheating, hacking, deception or any other unfair playing practices such as intending to annoy, abuse, threaten or harass any other participants or the Promoter and/or any of its agents or representatives) may be rejected from the Competition at the Promoter’s sole discretion. Furthermore, where such actions have significantly impaired the Competition, the Promoter may, at its sole discretion, add further stages to the Competition as it deems reasonably necessary in order to resolve any problems arising from such actions.
32. The Promoter reserves the right to amend these Terms and Conditions. Any amendments will be published on the Promoter’s website (the Website).
33. These Terms and Conditions are governed by English law. The courts of England and Wales shall have exclusive jurisdiction to hear any dispute or claim arising in association with the Competition or these Terms and Conditions.
34. The promoter of this Competition is News Group Newspapers Ltd (publisher of The Sun and The Sun on Sunday) of 1 London Bridge Street, London, SE1 9GF (the Promoter).