Terms

PLEASE READ THESE SUBMISSION TERMS (“TERMS”) CAREFULLY. THEY CONTAIN IMPORTANT TERMS THAT AFFECT YOUR LEGAL RIGHTS. WHEN YOU MAKE A SUBMISSION TO A VISITMARYLAND WEBSITE ON WHICH THESE TERMS APPEAR (A “SITE”) OR USE THE BRANDED HASHTAG #MDinFocus OR SEND THE HASHTAG #YESMARYLAND TO VISITMARYLAND, YOU ARE CONFIRMING THAT YOU HAVE AGREED TO BE BOUND BY THESE TERMS.

  • You may be viewing these Terms on a small screen. If so, here are the highlights of the Terms below (but please read the Terms).
  • You own the photo or other Content (as defined below) that you submit. Nothing in these Terms changes that.
  • You are giving The Maryland Office of Tourism (aka VisitMaryland) a license to use the Content on the Site and on The Maryland Office of Tourism’s other websites, apps, e-mail, printed materials and social media channels for advertising, marketing and/or promotional purposes.
  • You are also giving The Maryland Office of Tourism a license to use your name and image and other biographic material in conjunction with the Content.
  • If any third party has any rights in your Content (e.g., someone else took a photo or appears in a photo), you represent that you have all the rights and permissions needed from those third parties to grant The Maryland Office of Tourism the license to use your Content in accordance with these Terms and nothing in the Content is inappropriate or defamatory.
  • You are releasing The Maryland Office of Tourism from any liability arising out of its use of the Content as described in these Terms and you promise not to sue The Maryland Office of Tourism for such use.

TERMS AND CONDITIONS (LONG FORM) FOR CONTENT PROVIDERS TO THE MARYLAND OFFICE OF TOURISM (VISITMARYLAND) VISITMARYLAND.ORG, INDUSTRY.VISITMARYLAND.ORG

PARTICIPANT AGREEMENT

By using the branded hashtag #MDinFocus and/or replying to VisitMaryland’s consent request to participate in a content aggregation tool with the hashtag #YesMaryland you agree to these Terms and Conditions. The Maryland Office of Tourism doing business as VisitMaryland.org also agrees to abide by these Terms and Conditions. The Maryland Office of Tourism may terminate its Websites or its use of your content at any time at its discretion.

ALLOWABLE PARTICIPANTS

You must be 18 years of age or older and have the legal right to enter into this agreement and to grant any and all rights to your user generated content (Content) in the form of original photography, video or text.

NON-CONFIDENTIALITY

You understand and agree that your Content will be publically displayed and it will not be treated in confidence. In fact, many people from around the world will be able to view your Content and by replying to VisitMaryland’s request for consent you provide the Maryland Office of Tourism with the right to use and share your Content on their official websites including but not limited to Visitmaryland.org, Industry.VisitMaryland.org as well as in apps, e-mail, printed materials and all of their social media channels including, but not limited to, Facebook, Twitter and Instagram,

THE MARYLAND OFFICE OF TOURISM’S RIGHTS TO USER GENERATED CONTENT

By using the branded hashtag #MDinFocus and/or replying to VisitMaryland’s consent request to participate in a content aggregation tool with the hashtag #YesMaryland you are agreeing to these Terms and Conditions. You grant The Maryland Office of Tourism and affiliate agents a perpetual, transferable, non-exclusive, worldwide license to a) use, copy, transmit, distribute, reproduce, modify, create derivative works from, adapt, combine with other ideas or works, publish, translate, publicly perform, publicly broadcast and publicly display your Content (or any modification thereto) in whole or in part, in any format or medium now known or later developed and b) use (and permit others to use) your Content in any manner and for any purpose, including and without limitations: marketing, advertising, commercial or promotional purposes that The Maryland Office of Tourism or their affiliate agents deem appropriate.

You agree that you are solely responsible for your Content. The Maryland Office of Tourism is not required to host, display, or distribute any Content on or through their Websites and may remove Content at any time or refuse Content for any reason. The Maryland Office of Tourism is not responsible for any loss, theft, misuse or damage of any kind to your Content.

By replying to VisitMaryland’s consent request to participate in a content aggregation tool with the hashtag #YesMaryland, you represent and warrant that:

  • you are at least 18 years of age, you have the legal right to enter into this agreement and you are not impersonating anyone else
  • you own all rights in and to your Content including without limitation, all rights to the audio, video and or digital recording and performance contained in your Content (if any) and/or you have acquired all necessary rights to the elements appearing in your Content to enable you to grant the same rights to The Maryland Office of Tourism as described herein
  • your Content is wholly original and does not infringe on the copyright, trademark, patent, trade secret or any other intellectual property rights, privacy rights, or any other legal or moral rights of any third party individual or entity
  • you agree to release and allow all creative license and creative treatment in the use and production of your Content at the discretion of The Maryland Office of Tourism and its affiliate agents
  • you voluntarily agree to waive all “moral rights” that you may have to your Content
  • any information contained in your Content is not known to you to be false, inaccurate or misleading
  • our Content does not violate any law
  • you were not and will not be compensated or granted any consideration by any third party for submitting your Content
  • you will not be compensated or granted any consideration in any way by The Maryland Office of Tourism for the use of your Content
  • your Content does not incorporate materials from a third party website, copyright protected materials or personally identifiable information of anyone other than yourself
  • your Content does not reflect negatively in any way upon the state of Maryland or their marketing, advertising, commercial or promotional efforts

You agree to irrevocably release and forever discharge The Maryland Office of Tourism and its affiliate agents, subsidiaries, employees and third party providers from any and all actions, claims, damages, liabilities and demands, whether absolute or contingent and of any nature whatsoever, which you now have or hereafter can, shall or may have against VisitMaryland, The Maryland Office of Tourism, the State of Maryland and affiliate agents, subsidiaries, employees and third party providers or their respecting successor without limitation resulting from the use of your Content or anything contained therein by the MOT.

INDEMNIFICATION

You agree to indemnify, defend and hold harmless the Maryland Department of Commerce, the Maryland Office of Tourism and its affiliate agents from and against any and all claims, liabilities, damages, losses, costs, expenses or fees (including a reasonable amount of attorney’s fees) that such parties may incur as a result of or arising from your breach of these terms and conditions. The Maryland Department of Commerce and the Maryland Office of Tourism reserves the right to assume the exclusive defense and control of any matter otherwise subject to indemnification by you and you agree to cooperate with the Maryland Department of Commerce and the Maryland Office of Tourism’s defense of such claims.

MODIFICATIONS TO THESE TERMS AND CONDITIONS

The Maryland Office of Tourism may, at its sole discretion, change these Terms and Conditions at any time. Any such changes will be posted on https://www.visitmaryland.org/terms along with the new effective date

TAKEDOWN

Should you want your content removed from the VisitMaryland Website(s), you will need to send a message to the following: [email protected]. Once The Maryland Office of Tourism acknowledges receipt of your email request, please allow 30 days for any action to take place.

GENERAL

These Terms and Conditions and the Privacy Statement together with any additional terms to which you agree when using particular elements of the Website(s) constitute the entire and exclusive agreement between you and The Maryland Office of Tourism.

GOVERNING LAW

These terms shall be governed by the laws of the state of Maryland. Should any and all legal disputes connected with the Content arise, resolution will take place in accordance with the laws of the state of Maryland.