Good Morning America's 'Garth Brooks' 'GMA' Mother’s Day Surprise’ Contest -- Official Rules

Nominate a Deserving Mom for a Garth Brooks' 'GMA' Mother's Day Surprise!

ByABC News via logo
April 10, 2015, 8:00 AM

— -- NO PURCHASE NECESSARY TO ENTER OR WIN.

Eligibility Guidelines: Entrants must be legal residents of the 48 United States or the District of Columbia, 18 years of age or older. The mom you are nominating does not have to be your own mother, but she must be available for a surprise visit by Garth Brooks, who will sing his powerful song “Mom” to her on Good Morning America on or about May 8, 2015.

Contest sponsored by Good Morning America and American Broadcasting Companies, Inc. ("Sponsors").

Any individuals (including but not limited to employees, consultants, independent contractors, and interns) who have, within the past six months, performed services for Good Morning America ("GMA"), American Broadcasting Companies, Inc. ("ABC"), any organizations responsible for sponsoring, fulfilling, administering, advertising or promoting the Contest or supplying the prize, and their respective parent, subsidiary, affiliated and successor companies, and immediate family and household members of such individuals, are not eligible to enter or play. "Immediate family members" shall mean parents, step-parents, children, step-children, siblings, step-siblings, or spouses. "Household members" shall mean people who share the same residence at least three months a year.

Contest Entry Period: Good Morning America's "Garth Brooks’ GMA Mother’s Day" Contest (the "Contest") entry period begins 8:00 a.m. Eastern Time ("ET") on Friday, April 10, 2015 and ends at 3:00 p.m. ET on Monday, April 27, 2015 (the "Contest Period"). Sponsors’ computer is the official clock for this Contest.

How to Enter: Tell us why a mother you know is so special. Has she overcome obstacles in her life? Are there people she has gone out of her way to help? Submissions must include: a) a video up to 1:00 in length in which you and/or others are describing why the mother you are nominating ("Nominee") is so deserving, b) an essay, not to exceed 100 words in length, explaining why your Nominee deserves to have Garth Brooks surprise her with a live performance of “Mom” and c) a photo of your Nominee. Minors must have permission from a parent or legal guardian to appear in the video and/or photo. Do not include any music on the video. The photo may also include an image of you with the Nominee. Entrants must have full rights to use (and to grant for Sponsors’ use) any videos and photos submitted including the permission of any third parties (excluding the Nominee) who appear in a video and photo; videos and photos may not be the protected works of another party; entries that are incomplete or are submitted with inappropriate or offensive photos will be immediately disqualified. One entry per person’s e-mail address; no additional entries will be permitted. No entry may be submitted in any other contest or promotion.

During the Entry Period you may enter by going to www.goodmorningamerica.com and clicking on the "Garth Brooks’ GMA Mother’s Day Surprise" Contest image which will take you to the contest home page. There you will find instructions on the appropriate and acceptable file formats and sizes for submitting your entry electronically. Upon submission, you will receive one (1) entry into the Contest. You will see a thank you message on your screen indicating that you have successfully entered. You will not receive a further acknowledgement. Free internet access is available at most public libraries. Submit the video, essay, photo of your Nominee, along with your name and email address.

Proof of entering information at the Contest website or registration form is not considered proof of delivery to or receipt by Sponsors of such entry. Personal information collected in connection with this Contest will be used in accordance with ABC.com’s privacy policy, available at http://corporate.disney.go.com/corporate/pp.html.

You may be asked to consent to receive promotional e-mails and reminder e-mails from the Walt Disney Internet Group (WDIG) Family of Sites or from third parties. Consenting to receive promotional or reminder e-mails is optional and does not have to be agreed upon in order to be eligible to participate in the Contest and does not improve your chances of winning. In the event you do consent to receive these e-mails, the use of such e-mails shall be subject to the privacy policy of ABC.com or the designated promotional partner, depending upon which promotions you consent to receive, and you may opt out of receiving these e-mails at any time. For ABC.com's complete privacy policy, direct your Internet browser to http://corporate.disney.go.com/corporate/pp.html.

Judging Procedure, Notification and Finalists Judging: Eligible entries will be judged by staff designated by Sponsor. Decisions of the judges are final as to all Contest-related matters. Eligible entries will be judged on the basis of potential for on-air appeal, compelling nature of story and overall readability of essay.

The winner (“Winner”) is the Nominee whose entry submitted by the Entrant receives the highest score by the judges. The Winner will be selected on or about May 4th and the Entrant for the Winner will be contacted by phone/ email to confirm availability of the Nominee to be surprised on or about May 8, 2015.

In the event of a tie, the Nominee whose entry has the highest score in the compelling nature of story category will be declared the Winner. In the event that the Winner or Entrant who submitted the winning entry is deemed ineligible, fails to comply with Contest procedures, is not available to participate as specified, or does not respond to Sponsor’s notification of winning within forty-eight hours, then the first runner-up will be selected to participate, time permitting.

Prize: "Garth Brooks Wants to Meet Your Mom” prize consists of a surprise visit by Garth Brooks to the Winner’s hometown and a performance of “Mom” for the Winner by Garth Brooks.

Winners are not entitled to exchange or transfer prizes or to obtain cash or other substitutes, but Sponsors, in their sole discretion, may substitute prizes of equal or greater value. Federal, state and local taxes, if any, are the sole responsibility of the Winner, who will receive an IRS Form 1099 reflecting the final actual value of any prize valued at $600 or more. If won by a minor, prize will be awarded in parent's or guardian's name.

The portion of the prize that may consist of an appearance on Good Morning America is subject to availability. Sponsors are not responsible for cancellation or preemption of show or for other circumstances that make it impractical or impossible to fulfill this element of the prize. This element of the prize has no approximate retail value, and if it becomes impractical or impossible to fulfill this element, Sponsors’ only obligation will be to provide a substitute prize in the Sponsor’s sole discretion.

Releases: By participating, Entrants agree to be bound by these official rules and the decisions of the Sponsors/Judges, which shall be final in all respects. By entering the Contest, Entrants and Winner agree to execute any and all paperwork requested by the Sponsors which may include, but is not limited to, a background check prior to any on-line or on air appearance of Entrant, Nominee, Winner or Entrant's submission or related materials.

All submissions will become the sole property of ABC, which may reprint or otherwise exploit the entry in any manner, in any media in perpetuity. Entrant and Winner may be required to sign and return an affidavit of eligibility, release and indemnification within seven days of notification of winning. By participating in this contest and accepting any prize that they may win, Entrants agree to release American Broadcasting Companies, Inc., 8 Ten, Inc., Pearl Records, Inc., Garth Brooks, and their respective parent, subsidiary, affiliated and successor companies, advertising and promotion agencies and prize suppliers, and each of their respective officers, directors, agents, representatives and employees, as well as each of their respective successors, representatives and assigns (collectively, the "Released Parties") from any and all actions, claims, injury, loss or damage arising in any manner, directly or indirectly, from participation in this contest and/or acceptance or use of any prize.

Entrants authorize the Released Parties to use their name, voice, likeness, biographical data, city and state of residence and entry materials in programming or promotional material in any and all media currently in existence or hereafter created, worldwide in perpetuity, or on a winner's list, if applicable, without further compensation unless prohibited by law. Sponsors are not obligated to use any of the above mentioned information or materials, but may do so and may edit such information or materials, at Sponsors’ sole discretion, without further obligation or compensation.

By submitting entry materials, Entrants certify that such materials are original and created by Entrant, that Entrants have the necessary rights, permission and authority to submit such materials, and, if applicable, that Entrants maintain a valid copyright in the materials. Entrants acknowledge that such materials may be included and/or discussed in a broadcast, that such discussion may include statements or opinions by the broadcast talent or others about the Entrants, the Entrants' appearances and/or the materials, and that those statements and opinions may be considered surprising, humiliating, embarrassing, derogatory, defamatory or otherwise offensive or injurious to them, Sponsors’ employees, its studio or at-home audience and/or other third parties. Entrants release the Released Parties from any actions, claims, injury, loss or damage allegedly caused, directly or indirectly, by any such statements or opinions made during a broadcast.

Sponsors are not responsible for failed, partial or garbled computer transmissions, or for technical failures of any kind, including but not limited to electronic malfunction or damage of any network, hardware or software. If for any reason the contest is not capable of running as planned, including infection by computer virus, bugs, tampering, unauthorized intervention, fraud, technical failures, or other causes that corrupt or affect the administration, security, fairness, integrity or proper conduct of the contest, Sponsors reserve the right, in its sole discretion, to disqualify any individual who tampers with the entry process, and to cancel, terminate, modify or suspend the contest. No responsibility is assumed for any error, omission, interruption, deletion, defect, delay in operation or transmission, communications line failure, theft or destruction or unauthorized access to, or alteration of, entries; or any problems or technical malfunctions of any telephone network or lines, computer online systems, servers, or providers, computer equipment, software, failure of any e-mail or electronic entry to be received on account of technical problems or traffic congestion on the Internet or at any Web-site, or any combination thereof, including any injury or damage to entrant's or any other person's computer related to or resulting from participation in or downloading any materials from this contest. In the event of a dispute over an electronic entry, prize will be awarded to the owner of the e-mail account, not the name on the entry form.

To claim prize: (a) Winner must provide proof of age, identity and residency and (b) Winner must sign and return affidavit of eligibility/compliance with rules, publicity/liability release and indemnification.

Miscellaneous; Winner Posting: Void where prohibited. All federal, state and local laws and regulations apply.

Sponsors reserve the right, in its sole discretion, to disqualify any individual who tampers with the entry process and to cancel, terminate, modify and/or suspend the contest in the event of tampering or other circumstances, including but not limited to acts of God or civil disturbance that render it impractical or impossible to complete or fulfill the contest as originally planned.

Official rules will be posted on www.goodmorningamerica.com; the name of the Winner may be obtained by sending a self-addressed, stamped envelope by June 15, 2015, to “Garth Brooks’ GMA Mother’s Day Surprise Contest”, Room 616, 7 West 66th Street, New York, NY 10023.