Caption Contest Rules

No purchase or payment of any kind is necessary to enter or win this contest. Each new contest runs Saturday through Thursday, 12 P.M. PST.
To enter, fill in the information on this page entitled Enter Current Contest. Contest is limited to U.S. residents age eighteen or over, except employees, agents, or representatives of The Tribune newspaper, or any of its parents, subsidiaries, sister companies, or affiliates, or any member of their immediate family.
Entries that are lost, late, misdirected, garbled, or incompletely received, for any reason, including by reason of hardware, software, browser, or network failure, malfunction, congestion, or incompatibility at the Web site or elsewhere, will not be eligible.
The Tribune, in its sole discretion, reserves the right to disqualify any person tampering with the entry process, the operation of the Web site, or otherwise in violation of the rules. It further reserves the right to cancel, terminate, or modify any Open Mike Cartoon Contest not capable of completion as planned, including infection by computer virus, bugs, tampering, unauthorized intervention, force majeure, or technical failures of any sort.
Four finalists will be selected from each Open Mike Cartoon Contest by a member or members The Tribune's editorial staff (the "Judge(s)"). All four finalists' captions will be published in the Open Mike Cartoon Contest on the Saturday Opinion page, along with each finalist's name and city. In the event two or more valid entries contain the identical caption (including punctuation) and are selected as a finalist, the Judge(s) will draw the finalist by random selection. All decisions of the Judge(s) are final and binding.
The public can then vote on their favorite caption at www.sanluisobispo.com/cartoon. The winner of each contest will be the person whose caption received the greatest number of valid votes ("Votes") from the public and who satisfies all of the rules ("Qualified Winner") by the following Thursday at 12 P.M. PST. Any U.S. resident age eighteen or over can vote, except employees, agents, or representatives of The Tribune, or any of its parents, subsidiaries, sister companies, or affiliates, or any member of their immediate family. One Vote per person or e-mail address.
The Judge(s) will tabulate the Votes and announce the winner on the Open Mike Cartoon Contest on the Saturday Opinion along with the next week's blank cartoon . All decisions of the Judge(s) are final and binding.
The Qualified Winner of each Open Mike Cartoon Contest will receive a black/white print of the Opinion page with the cartoon containing their winning caption (the "Prize"). If the winner cannot be contacted or does not respond within three (3) days, an alternate winner may be selected, at the sole discretion of the Judge(s). The approximate retail value of the Prize is $20. Income and other taxes, if any, are the sole responsibility of the winner.
Subject to all federal, state, and local laws and regulations. Void outside of the 50 United States and the District of Columbia, and where prohibited.
The Prize is not transferable. No substitutions for the Prize except by The Tribune, in which case a prize of equal or greater value will be substituted.
All entries become the property of The Tribune and will not be acknowledged or returned.
Except where prohibited: (i) acceptance of the Prize constitutes consent to use winner�s name, likeness, and winning entry for editorial, advertising, and publicity purposes, without further compensation; (ii) winner may be required to sign an affidavit of eligibility and copyright transfer/liability/publicity/permission release. Affidavits and releases must be returned within thirty (30) days of attempted notification or an alternate winner may be chosen.