MICROSOFT MINECRAFT CAT CONTEST OFFICIAL RULES

1.SPONSOR These Official Rules (“Rules”) govern the operation of the Microsoft Minecraft Cat Contest (“Contest”). Microsoft Corporation, One Microsoft Way, Redmond, WA, 98052, USA, is the Contest sponsor (“Sponsor”).

2. DEFINITIONS In these Rules, "Microsoft", "we", "our", and "us" refer to Sponsor and “you” and "yourself" refers to a Contest participant, or the parent/legal guardian of any minor Contest entrant. By entering you (your parent/legal guardian if you are a minor) agree to be bound by these rules.

3. ENTRY PERIOD The Contest starts at 12:01 a.m. Pacific Time (PT) on October 13, 2018, and ends at 11:59 p.m. PT on November 18, 2018 (“Contest Period”).

The Contest Period consists of an Entry Period, which begins at 12:01 a.m. Pacific Time (PT) on October 13, 2018, and ends at 11:59 p.m. PT on November 12, 2018, and a Voting Period which begins at 12:01 a.m. Pacific Time (PT) on November 16, 2018, and ends at 11:59 p.m. PT on November 18, 2018. Entries must be received within the Entry Period to be eligible.

4. ELIGIBILITY – To enter, you must be 13 years of age or older. Minors must have consent of a parent or legal guardian. Employees and directors of Microsoft Corporation and its subsidiaries, affiliates, advertising agencies, and Contest Parties are not eligible, nor are persons involved in the execution or administration of this promotion, or the family members of each above (parents, children, siblings, spouse/domestic partners, or individuals residing in the same household). Void in Cuba, Iran, North Korea, Sudan, Syria, Region of Crimea, and where prohibited.

5. HOW TO ENTER To create an entry, take a photograph or video of a cat whose likeness you think should be included in the game Minecraft.

To submit an entry, login to your legally registered social media account on Twitter, Instagram or Facebook and post a publicly viewable message that includes your entry, the Contest hashtag 'minecraftcatcontest'. All elements must be included to be eligible. The account settings for this message must be set to “unprotected” or “public” to be eligible. This promotion is in no way sponsored, endorsed, or administered by, or associated with, Twitter, Instagram or Facebook. You understand that you are providing your information to the Sponsor and not to Twitter, Instagram or Facebook. The information you provide will only be used for administering the Promotion and to contact you if you are a winner.

The entry limit is one per person overall.

We are not responsible for excess, lost, late, or incomplete entries. If disputed, entries will be deemed submitted by the authorized account holder of the email address, social media account, or other method used to enter.

6. ELIGIBLE ENTRY To be eligible, an entry must meet the following content/technical requirements:  Your entry must be your own original work; and  Your entry cannot have been selected as a winner in any other contest; and  You must have obtained any and all consents, approvals, or licenses required for you to submit your entry; and  To the extent that entry requires the submission of user-generated contest such as software, photos, videos, music, artwork, essays, etc., entrants warrant that their entry is their original work, has not been copied from others without permission or apparent rights, and does not violate the privacy, intellectual property rights, or other rights of any other person or entity. You may include Microsoft trademarks, logos, and designs, for which Microsoft grants you a limited license to use for the sole purposes of submitting an entry into this Contest; and  Your entry may NOT contain, as determined by us in our sole and absolute discretion, any content that is obscene or offensive, violent, defamatory, disparaging or illegal, or that promotes alcohol, illegal drugs, tobacco or a particular political agenda, or that communicates messages that may reflect negatively on the goodwill of Microsoft.

7. USE OF YOUR ENTRY We are not claiming ownership rights to your Submission. However, by submitting an entry, you grant us an irrevocable, royalty-free, worldwide right and license to use, review, assess, test and otherwise analyze your entry and all its content in connection with this Contest and use your entry in any media whatsoever now known or later invented for any non-commercial or commercial purpose, including, but not limited to, the marketing, sale or promotion of Microsoft products or services, without further permission from you. You will not receive any compensation or credit for use of your entry, other than what is described in these Official Rules.

By entering you acknowledge that the we may have developed or commissioned materials similar or identical to your entry and you waive any claims resulting from any similarities to your entry. Further you understand that we will not restrict work assignments of representatives who have had access to your entry and you agree that use of information in our representatives’ unaided memories in the development or deployment of our products or services does not create liability for us under this agreement or copyright or trade secret law.

Your entry may be posted on a public website. We are not responsible for any unauthorized use of your entry by visitors to this website. We are not obligated to use your entry for any purpose, even if it has been selected as a winning entry.

Personal data you provide while entering this Contest will be used by Microsoft and/or its agents and prize fulfillers acting on Microsoft’s behalf only for the administration and operation of this Contest and in accordance with the Microsoft Privacy Statement.

8. WINNER SELECTION AND NOTIFICATION – At the close of the Entry Period, three Finalists will be selected by Microsoft or their Agent or a qualified judging panel from among all eligible entries received based on the following judging criteria:

• 33.3% Is the cat unique looking?
• 33.3% Could the cat be successfully rendered into Minecraft content?
• 33.3% Would the cat appeal to other Minecraft players?

During the Voting Period, the three Finalists will be posted online at a social media site to be announced, and the public will be invited to vote for their favorite entry by logging into the social media site and using the voting function to vote for their favorite Finalist based on the judging criteria listed above. Limit one vote per person and social media account.

At the close of the Voting Period, the Finalist with the highest number of votes will be declared the winner.

The Winning entryers will be selected from among all eligible entries received within 7 days following the Voting Period. In the event of a tie between any eligible entries, an additional judge will break the tie based on the judging criteria described above. The decisions of the judges are final and binding. If we do not receive a sufficient number of entries meeting the entry requirements, we may, at our discretion, select fewer winners than the number of Contest Prizes described below. If public vote determines winners, it is prohibited for any person to obtain votes by any fraudulent or inappropriate means, including offering prizes or other inducements in exchange for votes, automated programs or fraudulent i.d’s. Microsoft will void any questionable votes.

9. PRIZES The entrant will have their cat image rendered into content for the game Minecraft. There is no fair market value to this prize. No more than the stated number of prizes will be awarded. No substitution, transfer, or assignment of prize permitted, except that Microsoft reserves the right to substitute a prize of equal or greater value in the event the offered prize is unavailable. By accepting a prize, you agree that Microsoft may use your entry, name, image and hometown online and in print, or in any other media, in connection with this Contest without payment or compensation to you, except where prohibited by law.

10. ODDS The odds of winning are based on the number of eligible entries received and the skill of the entrants.

11. GENERAL CONDITIONS AND RELEASE OF LIABILITY To the extent allowed by law, by entering you agree to release and hold harmless Microsoft and its respective parents, partners, subsidiaries, affiliates, employees and agents from any and all liability or any injury, loss or damage of any kind arising in connection with this Contest or any prize won. All local laws apply. The decisions of Microsoft are final and binding

We reserve the right to cancel, change or suspend this Contest for any reason, including cheating, technology failure, catastrophe, war or any other unforeseen or unexpected event that affects the integrity of this Contest, whether human or mechanical. If the integrity of the Contest cannot be restored, we may select winners from among all eligible entries received before we had to cancel, change or suspend the Contest. Rules violators will be prosecuted to the full extent of the law and may be banned from participation in Microsoft Contest.

12. USE OF YOUR ENTRY Personal data you provide while entering this Sweepstakes will be used by Microsoft and/or its agents and prize fulfillers acting on Microsoft’s behalf only for the administration and operation of this Sweepstakes and in accordance with the Microsoft Privacy Statement.

13. GOVERNING LAW This Contest will be governed by the laws of the State of Washington, and you consent to the exclusive jurisdiction and venue of the courts of the State of Washington for any disputes arising out of this Contest.

14. WINNERS LIST The winners will be posted online on the Minecraft official Twitter channel www.twitter.com/minecraft on November 19 th , 2018.