Contest Rules

Eligibility 

No purchase necessary to enter or win this contest. 

Participation in this Contest is subject to these Rules.
 
Participation is available online and entries may be received only as outlined in these Rules. Entries will only be accepted via the online form provided, or by postal mailing a CD-ROM in Windows XP format to Pet University Video Contest, c/o Central Garden & Pet Company, 1340 Treat Boulevard, Suite 600, Walnut Creek, CA, 94597. 

Contest participants must be at least 18 years of age and legal residents of the United States at the time of entry. Persons under the age of 18 or those who reside in countries other than the United States or those who reside in Puerto Rico or other U.S. territories, commonwealths or possessions are not eligible to participate in this contest. All entries received from persons under the age of 18 or those who reside in countries other than the United States or those who reside in Puerto Rico or other U.S. territories, commonwealths or possessions, shall be void.

This Contest is being sponsored by Central Garden & Pet Company, 1340 Treat Boulevard, Suite 600, Walnut Creek, CA 94597 ("Central Garden"). 

By participating in the Contest, you agree that: (1) you have read and understand the Rules; (2) you meet the Contest eligibility requirements as explained in these Rules; (3) you are bound by these Rules and to Central Garden's Legal Notices and Privacy Policy as published at www.PetUniversity.com; (4) you unconditionally accept and agree to comply with and abide by the Rules and the decisions of Central Garden; and (5) the Rules shall be legally binding on you and your legal representatives, heirs, successors, and assigns. 

Persons in the following categories are NOT eligible to participate in or win prizes in the Contest: Employees, affiliate companies, subsidiaries, and family members of Central Garden. Void where prohibited. 

There is a limit of one entry per person, family or persons residing in the same household. Only the first entry received from the same applicant, family or persons residing in the same household shall be valid. CENTRAL GARDEN RESERVES THE RIGHT TO VOID MULTIPLE ENTRIES. 

Prize Details 

There will be one (1) grand prize winner who will receive a new video camera with a retail value of approximately $250. (See "Voting and How the Winners are Determined" below.) 

How to Enter

Entries are limited to 15 second videos of any type of reptile. To enter the Contest, submit your videos via the online form available at www.PetUniversity.com between August 1, 2006 at 12:00:01 a.m. Pacific Daylight Time (PDT), and December 31, 2006 at 3:00 p.m. PDT (the "Entry Period"). Note: videos may also be submitted via postal mailing a CD-ROM in Windows XP format to Pet University Video Contest, c/o Central Garden & Pet Company, 1340 Treat Boulevard, Suite 600, Walnut Creek, CA, 94597 during the same Entry Period.

Entries received after the Entry Period are void. If your video is selected as one of the 10 Finalists (see "Voting and How the Winners are Determined" below), Central Garden will notify Finalists by email approximately five days after the Entry Period expires. Central Garden will not notify those entrants whose pet videos were not selected as the 10 Finalists. 

Central Garden is not responsible for lost, late, incomplete, stolen, misdirected, or illegible entries (for more information, see "Limitations of Liability" below), and entries will only be accepted through the online form. Once submitted, your entry cannot be edited or deleted from the Contest. Only complete entries will be accepted. 

NOTE: Entrants may be required to provide Central Garden with proof that he/she is the authorized account holder of the email address associated with the entry. If a dispute cannot be resolved to Central Garden's satisfaction, the entry will be deemed ineligible. Entries made by any other individual or any entity, and/or originating at any other web site or e-mail address, including commercial sweepstakes subscription notification and/or entering service sites, will be declared invalid and disqualified from this Contest. The use of any device to automate the entry process is prohibited. 

Voting and How the Winners are Determined

Video submissions will be accepted in the Contest, in accordance with these Rules, during the Entry Period. Central Garden will select what they subjectively believe to be the best 10 video submissions ("Finalists"). The video submissions from those 10 Finalists will then be placed on the PetUniversity.com Web site for Web site visitors to begin viewing and voting on the afternoon of January 3, 2007 through January 31, 2007 at 3:00 p.m. PT (the "Voting Period"). The videos receiving the most individual votes will become the Grand Prize Winner. The Grand Prize Winner will be announced at www.PetUniversity.com on February 2, 2007. If after two (2) weeks we cannot reach or do not hear from the winner, the prize will be given to the next runner up. 

VOTERS: You may vote only once. Although multiple votes from the same email address may be electronically accepted by the Contest, only one vote per email address and person will be counted. Any attempt to circumvent this and other Contest rules is grounds for disqualification from receiving Contest prizes. See "Other Restrictions" below for more information. The odds of winning depend on the number of qualifying voters participating. 

Use of Email Addresses

During the Voting Period, those who vote for contestants will have the opportunity to sign up to receive Central Garden's free electronic-only newsletter, Pet University News. The newsletter features pet-related articles and email-exclusive offers from Central Garden. 

Central Garden will not sell or lease your personal information to any third party. For details on how Central Garden handles your personal information, please see Central Garden's Privacy Policy at www.PetUniversity.com. 

Use of Submitted Videos and Information 

By entering into this Contest, you warrant that you are the sole owner and copyright holder of the video(s) and information you submit; that these items do not infringe any intellectual property rights of any individual or entity, including the videographer who took the videos(s) you have submitted; and that these items do not contain any material that otherwise violates any criminal prohibition or a third party's rights. 

You grant to Central Garden & Pet Company, and its employees, agents, personnel, assigns, licensees, successors in interest, and legal representatives, an irrevocable and perpetual and royalty free right to use your videos(s), information and name (first name and/or last name or any fictional name you provided with your entry) or likeness, in all forms and in all media and in all manners, without any restriction or notice as to changes or alterations for any advertising, promotion, publicity, or any other lawful purposes. 

Your videos(s) and information may be altered for the purposes of proper publication at the PetUniversity.com website in connection with this Contest. You waive any claims you may have based on any usage of your video(s) and information and release Central Garden and its employees, agents, personnel, assigns, licensees, successors in interest, and legal representatives from any and all liability related to distribution, publication, and dissemination of these items, including publication on the Internet. 

You acknowledge that Central Garden is relying upon, and would not use your videos(s) and information in the absence of, these terms. Central Garden is not liable or responsible for any content provided by users of this Contest and the PetUniversity.com website. Central Garden will not sell the rights in your videos(s) or information to any third party. 

Other Restrictions 

Prizes will be awarded only to winners who have fully complied with these Rules. Voters are encouraged to vote in compliance with these Rules to ensure fair voting and resulting winners. Prizes are non-assignable, nontransferable and void if sold or auctioned. No cash alternative or substitution of a prize winning will be allowed, except Central Garden reserves the right in its sole discretion to substitute a prize of comparable value if the digital camera is unavailable or inappropriate for any reason. Prize recipients shall be solely responsible for all sales tax, delivery, processing and handling fees, as may be applicable to the prize, and all other costs incurred in using the prize. 

Limitations of Liability

Each person who enters the Contest does so at his/her own risk. By participating in the Contest, each entrant (1) hereby releases and agrees to hold Central Garden and its employees, agents, personnel, assigns, licensees, successors in interest, and legal representatives harmless from and against any and all costs, injuries, losses or damages of any kind, including, without limitation, death and bodily injury, due in whole or in part, directly or indirectly, to participation in the Contest or any Contest-related activity, or the receipt, use or misuse of any Prize; and (2) acknowledges that Central Garden has not made any warranty, representation, condition, or guarantee, express or implied, in fact or in law, with respect to any Prize, and HEREBY SPECIFICALLY DISCLAIMS ALL SUCH WARRANTIES, INCLUDING WITHOUT LIMITATION, THE IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. Central Garden assumes, and shall have, no responsibility for any damage to an entrant's computer system that is directly or indirectly caused by accessing or downloading content from any website or otherwise submitting electronic mail to PetUniversity.com and participating in the Contest, or for any computer system, phone line, hardware, software or program malfunctions, or other errors, failures, dropped or delayed computer transmissions or network connections that are human or technical in nature. Without limiting the generality of the foregoing, Central Garden is not responsible for incomplete, illegible, misdirected, late, lost, damaged, stolen, or postage-due entries or redemption documents; or for lost, interrupted, inaccessible or unavailable networks, servers, satellites, Internet Service Providers, websites or other connections; or for miscommunications, failed, jumbled, scrambled, delayed, or misdirected computer, telephone or cable transmissions; or for any technical malfunctions, failures, or difficulties, printing errors, clerical, typographical or other error in the offering or announcement of any prize or in any prize notification documents, or other errors of any kind or nature; or for the incorrect or inaccurate capture of information, or the failure to capture any information. Central Garden reserves the right, without prior notice and at any time, to terminate the Contest, in whole or in part, or modify or suspend the Contest in any way, if it determines, in its sole discretion, that the Contest is technically impaired or corrupted or that fraud or technical problems, failures or malfunctions have corrupted, destroyed or severely undermined the administration, security, fairness, integrity and/or feasibility of the Contest. In the event Central Garden is prevented from awarding prizes or continuing with the Contest as contemplated herein by any event beyond their control, including but not limited to infection by computer virus, bugs, tampering, unauthorized intervention, fraud, technical failures, fire, flood, natural or man made epidemic of health of other means, earthquake, explosion, labor dispute or strike, act of God or public enemy, satellite or equipment failure, riot or civil disturbance, terrorist threat or activity, war (declared or undeclared) or any federal state or local government law, order, or regulation, public health crisis (e.g. SARS), order of any court or jurisdiction, or other cause not reasonably within Central Garden's control (each a "Force Majeure" event or occurrence), Central Garden shall have the right to cancel, terminate, modify, suspend or extend the Contest. If the Contest is terminated, in whole or in part, before the designated end date, Central Garden may select winners (or the remaining winners, as the case may be) in a random drawing from all eligible, non-suspect entries received as of the date of the event giving rise to the termination. Only the type and quantity of prizes described in these Rules will be awarded. Any prizes that are not duly claimed in accordance with these Rules will not be awarded. Any attempt by an entrant or any other individual to deliberately damage the Contest or undermine the legitimate operation of the Contest, or to annoy, abuse, threaten or harass any other person, is in violation of criminal and civil laws and should such an attempt be made, Central Garden reserves the right to disqualify the applicable individual and seek damages and other remedies from any such person to the fullest extent permitted by law. The invalidity or unenforceability of any provision of these rules shall not affect the validity or enforceability of any other provision. In the event that any provision is determined to be invalid or otherwise unenforceable or illegal, these Rules shall otherwise remain in effect and shall be construed in accordance with their terms as if the invalid or illegal provision were not contained herein. Headings and captions are used in these Rules solely for ease of reference, and shall not be deemed to affect in any manner the meaning or intent of these Rules or any provision hereof. These Rules cannot be modified or amended in any way except in writing by a duly authorized representative of Central Garden.

Governing Law and Venue/Jurisdiction

All issues and questions concerning the construction, validity, interpretation and enforceability of these Rules or the rights and obligations of participants or Central Garden in connection with the Contest shall be governed by and construed in accordance with the laws of the State of California in the United States without regard to conflict or choice of law provisions or international treaties or conventions. Participants specifically agree to the venue and jurisdiction being exclusively in the federal and state courts situated in Contra Costa County in the State of California, United States. 

Access to Contest Rules

These official Contest Rules will be posted online only at www.PetUniversity.com. Questions? If you have any questions about the Contest, please use the Contact Us form.