Governing Terms & Conditions | MT Short Film Festivals | MT Culture Club

Governing Terms & Conditions | MT Short Film Festivals

This Contest (as defined below) is subject to the following terms & conditions (hereinafter referred to as “T&C”), which may be updated by Bennett, Coleman & Company Limited (hereinafter referred to as “BCCL”), having its Registered Office at The Times of India Building, Dr. D. N. Road, Fort, Mumbai – 400 001, and its Corporate Office at 9-10, Indian Express Building, Bahadur Shah Zafar Marg, New Delhi- 110 002, from time to time without notice to the Participants (as defined below). The Participant confirms to have read the binding T&C at https://mtcultureclub.com/. The Participant is participating the Contest at his/her sole discretion and free will subject to these T&C. The Participation in the Contest shall be deemed as the acceptance of the T&C by the Participant. 

By participating in the ‘Maharashtra Times (MaTa) Short Film Festival’ (hereinafter referred to as the ”Contest”), you, the individual who participates in the Contest (hereinafter referred to as the ”Participant”) accept and agree that you are of the minimum age of 18 years or you are participating with the due permission of your legal guardian and accept, agree and remain abide to the following terms and conditions:-

Definitions

  1. “Contest” shall mean the event titled as Maharashtra Times (MaTa) Short Film Festival. 
  2. “MT” shall mean Maharashtra Times.
  3. “Participant” shall mean an individual who participates in the Contest for showcasing his/her filmmaking skills.
  4. “TOI” shall mean The Times of India.
  5. “Website” shall mean the website at ________ for submitting entries to the Contest.

Entry and Eligibility

An upfront, non-refundable entry fee of INR __499/-____ is required to participate in the Contest.

  1. This Contest is open for Indian citizens and open to any citizen of India residing in India or abroad. If you are under the age of 18 years, you should review this T&C with your parent or legal guardian to make sure that you and your parent or legal guardian understands and agrees to it and further, if required, you shall perform or undertake such activities which will entitle you to enter into a legally binding agreement with BCCL through your parent/legal guardian.
  2. The Contest is organized, managed and conducted by Maharashtra Times, a division of BCCL and thus, the Contest is subject to BCCL’s policies and other conditions.
  3. Contest Duration

The Contest shall run for three (3) months from 7th October 2021 to 7th November 2021. BCCL reserves the right to terminate, extend or shorten the Contest Duration at its sole discretion.

Participation

  1. An upfront, non-refundable entry fee of INR __499/-__ shall be required to participate in the Contest.
  2. The Contest shall be conducted on the Website and/or be hosted on third party platform at the sole discretion of BCCL. 
  3. For participating in the Contest, each Participant shall submit precise videos/short films/documentaries in compatible format/s (collectively, “Entry”/”Entries”) along with a downloadable link in compliance with submission guidelines mentioned below on or before 7th November, 2021. 
  4. All stories and supporting videos, films, documentaries, photos, sketch or such other creative material should be as per extant rules and regulations of Central Board of Film Certification, Ministry of Information & Broadcasting, Government  of India. BCCL shall not be liable for any delay or failure or non-receipt of any entry of any Participant within the stipulated deadline for any reasons whatsoever.
  5. Each Participant shall share their Entry of a maximum duration of 20 minutes and a certificate from the Central Board of Film Certification.
  6. For each selected Entry, the following material must be sent after receiving the selection intimation. BCCL reserves the right to use this material for the promotion of the Entry and the Contest. 
    1. At least three stills from the Entry in JPG format; 
    2. A photo of the Participant(s) in JPG format; 
    3. A file or a password-protected link of the final version of the Entry in high quality with English subtitles;
    4. Posters of the Entry.
  7. Entries sent for selection must be in the original language with English subtitles.
  8. As Participant, a director or a production company may submit more than one Entry, provided a separate entry form and fee accompanies each such Entry. The entry form must clearly mark the section entered for.
  9. The Participants agree and acknowledge that their entries shall not contain any material which is offensive, defamatory, obscene, derogatory, explicit, perverse to any specific race, gender or class of persons or degrading to public conscience or morals and is not in conformity with Indian sentiments or otherwise.
  10. A valid mobile number and/or an email address would be required to register for the Contest. By entering the Contest, you agree to the following terms in addition to any other specific terms which shall be posted at an appropriate location of the Website. Each registration is for a single individual use only for submission of a certain Entry through the Website. 
  11. All videos/short films/mobile films/documentaries/posts/texts/images (collectively, “Entry”/”Entries”) posted on the Website, official Facebook page, Instagram page and Twitter page shall be subject to applicable laws, BCCL policies, Facebook, Twitter and Instagram policies and public policy.
  12. BCCL reserves the right to remove/block any Participant from the Contest for causing disruption, engaging in distasteful acts, or hampering the Contest in any way, shape or form, without any recourse, liability or obligation being cast upon BCCL whatsoever.
  13. Employees of BCCL and/or its associate and Affiliates (as defined hereafter)/ group companies/concerns and/or sponsors will not be qualified for winning any prize/s in the Contest.

For the purposes of this clause, the term “Affiliate” shall mean all entities controlling, controlled by or under common control with BCCL. The term “Control” shall mean the ability to vote fifty percent (50%) or more of the voting securities of any entity or otherwise having the ability to influence and direct the policies and direction of an entity. 

Selection and Prizes

  1. There shall be __ winning entries selected from the pool of eligible Participants by a panel of jury. These winners shall span over a number of prize categories and pools. The jury’s decision will be final and binding. BCCL shall have right to choose the Participants/winners in case of a tie or equal points being met. The decision of the management of BCCL is final and no correspondence or any other claims whatsoever, in this regard will be entertained.
  2. There will be one Entry awarded from the all the participating Entries that get selected in the Documentary Section:
    1. Best Film in Documentary Section – INR 15,000/-
  3. There will be two entries awarded from the all the participating Entries that get selected, in each category of Fiction Section:
    1. Professional Camera – 
      1. First Prize: INR 25,000/-
      2. Second Prize: INR 20,000/-
    2. Mobile Camera –
      1. First Prize: INR 10,000/-
      2. Second Prize: INR 5,000/-
    3. Individual Prizes in the following categories shall be awarded to the selected entries- 
      1. Best Director – INR 5,000
      2. Best Story – INR 5,000
      3. Best DOP (Cinematography) – INR 5,000
      4. Best Editing – INR 5,000
      5. Best Music – INR 5,000
  4. Only the respective Participants behind winning Entries shall be intimated by email. No communication, electronic or otherwise, of non-acceptance shall be sent to Participants not selected as winning entries.
  5. The gratification is subject to the laws of India and deduction of taxes, levies and other statutory payments shall be as applicable and borne solely by the winners only. BCCL will not be responsible to pay any applicable tax or duty or levy or fee.
  6. Unless otherwise indicated, the Prize money shall be paid directly to the filmmaker/s. They are responsible for redistributing this money according to the contracts they have with their partners. 
  7. The shortlisted winners may be featured in BCCL newspapers and digital assets line website/apps/social media handles, subject to editorial discretion, BCCL policies and applicable laws. To such extent, the Participants agree to grant a non-exclusive, assignable, transferrable and sublicensable permission to BCCL and its Affiliates to click their photographs and publish it with their names across BCCL’s print and digital media, without payment of any additional consideration to such winning Participants basis signing of a consent form.
  8. Mere submission of the Entry does not give any warranty or guarantee of any prize or publication in BCCL feature or any other valuable consideration.
  9. Gifts or prize cannot be exchanged or redeemed for cash; no cash claim can be made in lieu of the gifts or prize.

Other Terms

  1.  In lieu of the prize consideration, the winning Participant agrees to  assign ownership of copyright in the winning Entry in favour of BCCL, , coupled with grant of  irrevocable, and worldwide rights, title and interest to use, publish, reproduce, republish, re-format, digitally display, archive, re-distribute, translate, copy, encode, edit, store, cache, host, transmit, adapt, modify and sub-license the content in the shortlisted Entry received from the Participants, which are selected as winning entries (hereinafter referred to as “Shortlisted Content”) in perpetuity across all print and digital media platforms owned by BCCL & its Affiliates (which shall include, but not be limited to, Times Internet Limited, Maharashtra Times newspaper or website /MaTa gold website or and Mata Gold App/Maharashtra Times Culture Club website/MT Citizen Reporter app/or any other BCCL product (newspaper/website/application/social media handle), Mediawire, and Times Ascent). BCCL may feature selected or winning Entries on its platforms.Those Participants whose entries are not selected as winning Entries, agree to grant BCCL and its Affiliates a non-exclusive, irrevocable, complimentary license across all existing and prospective media and/or platform. A credit line and copyright notice shall accompany the Participant’s Content to acknowledge his/her ownership of the copyright, as applicable when such Content is used by BCCL. By participating and seeding personally identifiable information, the Participant agrees and allows BCCL to collect, store, process and utilize such information by BCCL for the purpose of the Contest, promotional messages, emails, commercial purposes or allied matters.
  2. The Participants agree to have read and agreed to the rules and guidelines at ____ for a detailed description of the Contest and these binding terms. The Participants shall agree to abide by these terms and guidelines upon entering this Contest.
  3. BCCL does not give any warranty or guarantee concerning the quality, suitability or merchantability of any prize and BCCL or its management, directors, officers, agents, representatives shall not be responsible for or liable (including, but not limited to, the product and service liabilities) for deficiency and/ or defect of any product/service given as the prize or any kind of consequential damages/loss, in any manner whatsoever. BCCL shall not be responsible for any realization of gift vouchers or prize. Shortlisted Participants will be informed by phone and email and the winners should be available on the gratification day as intimated by BCCL or authorised representatives of BCCL. It is the duty of the Participant to ensure that his or her personal details (name, address, date of birth, e-mail ID and ID proof) are always updated and accurate in order to be able to receive the prize or voucher or notification in time. Each  Participant will have to make his or her own arrangement of transportation and accommodation while travelling to the required location including while attending the gratification event or day.
  4. BCCL reserves the right to change, alter or cancel this Contest in part or full, or change any or all of the terms and conditions that are applicable, without giving prior intimation/notice of any kind and will not be liable for any consequential losses/damages. Decision of BCCL in this regard and in general with respect to this Contest and the Terms & Conditions thereto shall be final, binding and non-contestable.
  5. Nothing contained herein amounts to a commitment or representation by BCCL to conduct further or other schemes.
  6. All disputes shall be subject to the jurisdiction of the courts at Mumbai only.
  7. Publication of winning photo in BCCL publication is subject to the laws prevailing in the country, including regulations as may be applicable to the winner. No correspondence in this regard will be entertained under any circumstances.
  8. Winners shall not conceal or misrepresent any information during the scrutiny or otherwise, failing which the participant shall be disqualified for participating in the Contest.
  9. BCCL reserves the right to withdraw &/or alter any of the terms & conditions of this Contest at any time without prior notice.
  10. Interpretation of Rules and Regulations and terms & conditions for any legal issue will be considered only in English.
  11. BCCL or editorial team of relevant newspaper shall have a right to alter / modify / add and do necessary changes in submitted entries in any format of the content including videos.
  12. BCCL reserves the right to disqualify any Entry of the Participant if the same is not as per the submission guidelines and Contest terms & conditions.
  13. Participants may be required to sign any form or agreement or formal documentation with BCCL in subsequent phases, if required.
  14. BCCL reserves the right to increase or decrease or split the number of prizes or vouchers or gratification or winners, at its sole discretion, at any stage of the Contest.
  15. Winners/Participants will have to make themselves available for any event/activity/gratification event or day or for any other activity of Maharashtra Times as and when intimated by BCCL for any promotional purposes within one year from the date of announcement of the Contest result.
  16. Each Participant represents and warrants that the submitted Entry is his or her own copyrighted original entry and shall indemnify and keep BCCL harmless against any kind of copyright or intellectual property rights or any other claim by any third party pertaining to the Entry submitted by such Participant.
  17. In no event shall BCCL’s aggregate liability arising with respect to or in connection with this Contest exceed the total of the Entry Fee per Participant i.e. INR ____ under this Contest. 
  18. By submitting the Entry, each Participant declares that the Entry submitted by you are your own original work and shot by you only.
  19. If you do not agree to any terms and conditions, you are requested not to participate or submit your Entry for the Contest.