Good Morning America's Search for Secret Santa Contest -- OFFICIAL RULES

Read the official rules and enter for your chance to win a great holiday prize!

ByABC News via logo
December 18, 2013, 4:02 PM
Secret Santa is coming out of hiding and showing up on "Good Morning America" for three days. Your challenge: spot him on the "GMA" set!
Secret Santa is coming out of hiding and showing up on "Good Morning America" for three days. Your challenge: spot him on the "GMA" set!
Good Morning America

Dec. 19, 2013— -- Secret Santa is coming out of hiding and showing up on "Good Morning America" on three different days. Your challenge: find him on the "GMA" set. If you can tell us where he was on each of those days, you could be on your way to winning a great holiday prize.

Watch "Good Morning America" on December 19, 20 and 23, 2013. Then CLICK HERE to enter "GMA's Search for Secret Santa" Contest. Correctly answer where Secret Santa was placed on the GMA set each of those days, and tell us about your favorite holiday tradition. One selected winner will be paired with an audience member for a fun-filled game that will make this Christmas even merrier!

GMA'S SEARCH FOR SECRET SANTA" OFFICIAL CONTEST RULES
NO PURCHASE NECESSARY TO ENTER OR WIN.
READ THE OFFICIAL RULES.

Eligibility Guidelines:

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

Entrants to "GMA's Search for Secret Santa" Contest ("Contest") must be current legal residents of the 48 contiguous United States or the District of Columbia, and 18 (eighteen) years old or older. Entrants must be available to speak via phone with the Sponsors beginning 3:00 pm Eastern Time ("ET") Monday, December 23, 2013 through 9:00 a.m. Tuesday, December 24, 2013. Entrants must also be available to conduct a Skype test with the Sponsors between 5:00 pm ET and 8:00 pm ET on Monday, December 23, 2013, and Skype with the Sponsors during pre-production and a live broadcast with "Good Morning America" from 6:00 am ET and 9:00 am ET on Tuesday, December 24, 2013.

Entrants must have, or have access to, a Skype account with video chatting capability, internet (hard-wire/Ethernet is preferred but not mandatory) and an earpiece such as a headset or ear-bud. Facetime on Apple, or use of other third party video chatting services, is not allowed.

Any individuals (including but not limited to employees, consultants, independent contractors, and interns) who have, within the past six months, performed services for the Sponsors, 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. "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 Period and Contest Entry Period:

"GMA's Search for Secret Santa" begins at 7:00 am Eastern Time ("ET") on Thursday, December 19, 2013 and ends at 3:00 p.m. ET on Monday, December 23, 2013 (the "Contest Period").

Each of the 7:00 – 9:00 am "Good Morning America" broadcasts on Thursday, December 19, 2013, Friday, December 20, 2013, and Monday, December 23, 2013 will include the same Santa Claus figure ("Secret Santa") somewhere on the "Good Morning America" set in one segment on each broadcast. The Secret Santa will appear in one place during any given day's broadcast, but may be in a different place for each broadcast.

Entrants should make note of the location of the Secret Santa on each day's broadcast.

To enter the contest, navigate the Internet to www.goodmorningamerica.com and click on the link for "The Good Morning America Search for Secret Santa" Contest 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.

You must be a registered member of ABCNews.com or one of the WDIG Family of Sites to enter or you may become a member. Registration is free and only required once. Enter as follows:

a) If you are an existing ABCNews.com member, simply sign in on the Contest home page with your current member name and password.

b) If you are not an ABCNews.com member, you can register by clicking on the link located on the Sweepstakes home page. You will be asked to provide your first and last name, mailing address with zip code/postal code, phone number, e-mail address, gender, birthday, country, and to select a username and password.

You must answer all 3 (three) multiple choice questions on the Entry Form, each of which is based on the location of the Santa Claus figure on each day's broadcast of ABC-TV's "Good Morning America" on Thursday, December 19, 2013, Friday, December 20, 2013, and Monday, December 23, 2013. Enter, in sequential order, the letter corresponding to each of your answers into the "Secret Code" box on the Entry Form. YOU MUST ENTER ONLY THE LETTER CORRESPONDING TO EACH OF YOUR 3 (THREE) ANSWERS. DO NOT INCLUDE ANY SPACES, PUNCTUATION OR OTHER CHARACTERS. IT IS NOT CASE SENSITIVE. Entries will be disqualified if they also contain any spaces, punctuation or characters other the 3 (three) letters corresponding to the 3 (three) answers in sequential order.

You warrant and represent that all of the Materials submitted by you are original to you (and not based on or derived from any other materials), that you own all necessary rights in and to the Materials which are fully transferable, and that you are not subject to any agreement which would interfere with your ability to enter into this Contest or grant all of the rights to be provided hereunder. Accordingly, you further warrant and represent that you have the right to enter into this agreement and grant the rights hereunder without the need for permission from or payment to any other party. In addition, you warrant and represent that the exercise of the rights set forth herein and in the Contest Rules by the Sponsors will not violate any third party rights and will not violate any contractual obligations or confidential relationships which you may have to or with any third party.

Any entries submitted with inappropriate or offensive content will be immediately disqualified. No entry may be submitted in any other contest or promotion.

Upon submission, 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.

Incomplete entries or entries that do conform to these official rules will be disqualified. 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 reminders for upcoming ABC or other partners' promotions. Consenting to receive promotional or reminder e-mails is optional, does not have to be agreed to in order to be eligible to enter 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:

Upon satisfaction of all rules and conditions, the 10 (ten) Finalists must be available to speak on the phone and/or Skype with the Sponsors beginning at 3:00 pm ET Monday, December 23, 2013, through Tuesday, December 24, 2013 at 9:00 am ET. Finalists must respond to emails and return completed forms from Sponsor within a two hour period or Sponsor reserves the right to disqualify that entry.

Based on the essays, aforementioned judging criteria, and the database verifications, the judges will choose 1 (one) Winner and 2 (two) Runners-up.

In the event of a tie among Finalists, the Entry with the highest scores in the judging category of the substance of the Essay will be declared the Winner ("Winner").

In the event that the Winner is deemed ineligible, fails to comply with contest procedures, is unavailable on the day that the final phase of the contest is to be played on "Good Morning America", or is unable to Skype with "Good Morning America", then the Runner-up with the next highest score in the substance of the Essay will be declared the Winner, time permitting, or Sponsors reserve the right to terminate the contest or a portion thereof at their discretion.

The Winner and 2 (two) Runners-up must be available to do a Skype test with the Sponsors between 5:00 pm ET and 8:00 pm ET on Monday, December 23, 2013, and appear on "Good Morning America" via Skype between 6:00 am and 9:00 am ET on Tuesday, December 24, 2013.

If technical difficulties or other production issues prevent the Winner or Audience Player from participating in the on air game, then a Runner-up and/or a replacement Audience Player will be selected to play. Being chosen as a Winner, Finalist, Runner-up, Audience Player or being a member of the Studio Audience does not guarantee participation in the on air game or prizes.

Prizes:

The total amount of U.S. Currency written on the pieces of paper grabbed by the Audience Player during the allotted time will be added up. The Winner and Audience Player will each receive that same total amount in the form of a gift card from a major credit card company or retailer.

The maximum amount that each will receive is a $500.00 gift card from a major credit card company or retailer. The Sponsor will send the participating Winner and Audience Player their individual gift card within 30 (thirty) days of the on air game.

All videotape and live production will be determined at the sole discretion of the Sponsors. The participants in the on air game are not entitled to exchange or transfer the prizes or to obtain cash or other substitutes, but Sponsors, in their sole discretion, may substitute prizes of equal or greater value.Any 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. The appearance portion of the prize has no approximate retail value and if it becomes impractical or impossible to fulfill this or any element, Sponsors' only obligation will be to provide the remainder of prize, if any.

Federal, state, and local taxes associated with the receipt or use of the prize, if any, are the sole responsibility of the Winner. The Winner and Audience Player must provide a validly completed IRS Form W-9 and any additional paperwork that Sponsors require to the Sponsors prior to receiving the prize. An IRS Form 1099 reflecting the final actual value of any prize valued at $600 or more, if required by law, will be issued to the on air game participants.

By participating, Entrants and Potential Audience Players 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 Potential Audience Players agree to execute in a timely manner and by any deadline set by Sponsors any and all paperwork requested by the Sponsors which may include, but is not limited to any release forms, prior to any on-line or on air appearances, or use of Entrants' submissions or related materials.All submissions will become the sole property of the Sponsors, which may reprint or otherwise exploit the entries in any manner, in any media, worldwide, in perpetuity. Entrants and Potential Audience Players may be required to sign and return an affidavit of eligibility, release and indemnification prior to the on air game on "Good Morning America". By participating in this Contest, Entrants and Potential Audience Players agree to release, defend, indemnify, and hold harmless the Sponsors, their parent, subsidiaries, and affiliated companies, sponsoring, advertising and promotion agencies and any other prize suppliers (if any), licensees, 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 including, but not limited to, any and all actions, complaints, claims, injuries, liabilities, fees (including reasonable attorney's fees), royalties, costs, losses or damages arising in any manner, directly or indirectly, by whomever or wherever asserted, from a) Entrants' and Potential Audience Players' participation in the contest, b) Sponsors' exercise of the rights granted herein and/or c) the acceptance, use or misuse of any prize or portion of any prize.

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 to the Entrants, Potential Audience Players or any other affiliated party.By submitting materials hereunder and accepting the prize, you hereby grant to the Sponsors, their parents, subsidiaries, licensees and affiliated companies, and each of their respective officers, directors, agents, servants, representatives, shareholders and employees, as well as each of their respective successors, representatives and assignees the exclusive right to use and distribute your submission, as well as your likeness, picture, voice, name and biographical material (all such materials are sometimes collectively referred to as the "Materials") in any and all manner, methods, formats and media now known or hereafter created, including without limitation, all forms of television, radio, internet, cable, satellite, wireless applications, home video products and devices, etc., in connection with the Contest, the Production, ABC's programming, and in all advertising and promotion for the foregoing, throughout the universe, in perpetuity.

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 their 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, Winner and Audience Player must: (a) provide proof of age, identity, residency, (b) sign and return affidavit of eligibility/compliance with rules, publicity/liability release and indemnification, and (c) also agree to complete and submit any additional releases, indemnifications and other requisite paperwork as specified at the discretion of the Sponsors, all within the time period specified by Sponsors.

Miscellaneous; Winner Posting:

Void where prohibited. All federal, state and local laws and regulations apply.

Sponsors reserve the right, in their 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 goodmorningamerica.com; For a winner's list, send a self-addressed stamped envelope to: "GMA's Search for Secret Santa", c/o ABC News, Room 616, 7 West 66th Street, New York, New York, 10023, by January 20, 2014.