Word Cup Procedures and Rules

1. The Word Cup:
The Word Cup is an international, online, all-ages, annual vocabulary competition, hosted by eSpindle Learning with the Oxford English Dictionary as its dictionary authority.

2. Terms of Use
Use of this site and participation in the Word Cup signify your agreement with the following Procedures and Rules. If you do not agree with any part of these Procedures and Rules, please do not use this site and do not participate in the Word Cup. eSpindle Learning (the “administrator”) reserves the right, in its sole discretion, to modify these Procedures and Rules at any time and you agree to be bound by such modifications through your use of eSpindle’s site.

3. Eligibility:
(1) Everyone is invited to participate, regardless of age or location.

(2) Upon registering, you will receive email correspondence from eSpindle, inviting you to participate in the Word Cup.

(3) You need to have reliable Internet access throughout the quiz. It is your responsibility to ensure Internet connection of at least 4 KB/s.

(4) If you are younger than 13, your parents will have to register you. If you are under the age of 18 and are invited to enter the Semifinals, your parents must sign their agreement on the entry form.

(5) You may only compete in Word Cup once per year. Contestants attempting to enter more than once will be permanently barred from the event.

(6) We try to collect as little personal information as possible. This information is used only to ensure that you are competing in the proper age category, do not compete under false identity, and can be contacted in case you win.

(7) Once you have won the Word Cup you may not compete in that same age category.

(8) You are ineligible to participate or win prizes in the Word Cup if you or someone in your household or family
(a) is working as an editor or administrator for eSpindle Learning and/or the Word Cup
(b) is working as an editor for Oxford University Press and/or are part of the Oxford English Dictionary team

(9) Eligibility determinations by Word Cup staff shall be final and binding in all respects.

4. Format:
(1) The Word Cup is conducted in three distinct rounds: Try-outs, Semifinals, and Finals.

(2) All three rounds of Word Cup take place online. You can register at any time at www.eSpindle.org/word_cup, and will be automatically invited to participate in the try-outs when your age category is scheduled to take the first quiz.
Each of the age categories will compete during different time periods, published on www.eSpindle.org/word_cup.

(3) Participating requires an invitation, which is issued after registering. The invitation will notify you of your eligible age group, competition time and date, and other important information regarding the competition. It is your responsibility to maintain an email account, confirm it, monitor it, and to whitelist the eSpindle.org domain in your email program to ensure proper delivery of the invitation.

(4) Contestants are divided into four age categories:

Category 1 -          Younger than 16

Category 2 -          16-30 years of age

Category 3 -          31-50 years of age

Category 4 -          51 years and older 

Your age category will be determined by your actual age on the Sunday after International Education Week (the final day of the Word Cup).

(5) To manage traffic and resources, the Try-out rounds for the four age categories will be held at different times. The time table is published online at www.eSpindle.org/word_cup, and age-specific invitations will be sent to registered participants.

(6) We are striving to collect only information necessary to identify you and your correct age category.
We do not ask for complete addresses or any data that could conflict with our strict privacy policy. However, please note that your identity will be verified at different stages of the competition, and purposefully providing false information to gain an advantage will permanently exclude you from Word Cup.

(7) Each participant can try out once per year.

(8) No reference materials, books, websites, or other persons may be consulted by contestants during the Word Cup quiz.

(9) It is your responsibility to make sure that your audio is working properly before starting the quiz. A test button will be provided on the initial page.

(10) All contestants will be presented with an identical list of words.

(11) Contestants can earn bonus points by entering the word correctly before hearing it – this step is called a “guess.” Entering a wrong guess has no negative effect; however, no bonus point will be issued.
Some Word Cup questions may be susceptible to more than one answer, but only the answer predefined in the Word Cup quiz engine will be accepted as the “correct” answer.

(12) The audio will automatically play after a wrong guess has been submitted, or when only 15 seconds are left in the quiz.

(13) Submitting a misspelled word after listening to the audio will end your try out quiz. The quiz will also end if the time expires before you press the “submit” button. The time given for each word is strictly limited, and a timer will indicate the time remaining.

(14) If you need to take a break you can do so between words. Simply remain on the answer screen, and do not request the next word. At this point in the quiz you can interrupt activity for up to 15 minutes before timing out.

(15) Your score consists of the total number of words mastered, plus any bonus points earned by guessing correctly.

(16) The highest scoring contestants will be invited to the Semifinal round.

(17) Whenever two contestants have the exact same score, the one who has achieved this score in less time wins.

(18) To participate in the Semifinal round, contestants will need an independent party to verify and confirm their identity. This independent party (a teacher, librarian, member of the local community, etc.) will also certifiy that the quiz was taken without assistance and will sign the entry form that is transmitted along with the invitation. It is the responsibility of the contestant to locate an independent authority and make arrangements to participate in the Semifinals.

(19) Trying out is free for all. A contribution is requested from all contestants over the age of 18 who participate in the Semifinals and Finals. Contributions are used to cover Word Cup-related costs, prizes, literacy donation program, and to maintain the online Word Cup Café.

(20) Before being admitted to the Finals, top scoring contestants will need to submit a completed and signed entry form from the Semifinals by faxing it to 415-814-5727. We further require a document containing a Champion Bio (minimum of 150 words), a signed Consent and Release Form, and a portrait  in electronic format. Instructions will be sent to finalists 10 days before the date of the final round. The documents are required to enter the Finals.

(21) If you do not submit these required documents in time or are unable or unwilling to participate in the Finals on any of the designated dates, you will forfeit your opportunity.

(22) The top finalists are scheduled to take the final quiz under direct supervision. Using web camera, microphone, headset, and remote desktop technology, contestants will verify their identity with their Word Cup supervisor and take the quiz under strictly monitored conditions. Web camera, microphone and headset can be borrowed in exchange for a deposit.

(23) The Finals are scheduled during International Education Week, with the final champions announced on the following Sunday.
 

5. Official dictionary and source of words:
(1) The mighty Oxford English Dictionary Online Edition (hereafter referred to as the OED), is the final authority for the spelling of words. The OED, the most comprehensive and internationally respected dictionary in the world, is published and copyrighted by Oxford University Press.

(2) All words quizzed in the Word Cup are entries in The Oxford English Dictionary Online.
If more than one spelling is listed for a word then any of these spellings will be accepted as correct by the quiz engine if:         
(a) The pronunciations of the words are identical,
(b) the definitions of the words are the same, and
(c) the words are clearly identified as being standard variants of each other.

(3) Variants that are no longer in common use (for example archaic or obsolete versions) will not be accepted. Variants from different English speaking cultures, regional and non-standard variations (such as slang) will be accepted, as long as they are noted in the OED as a variant for a word.
 

6. Prizes:
The goal of the Word Cup is to reward excellence, maintain an event that is attractive to a large audience, and to support literacy.
To support this mission, prizes are awarded to the top spellers in each of the four age categories. The highest scoring individual is declared “champion of champions” and earns the first prize.

A large number of smaller prizes will be distributed among the participants based on merit, yet ensuring that everyone has a chance to win. In years following the first, these additional prizes will be awarded to participants who show the largest improvement over their own quiz scores from previous years.

A portion of the prize money will be dedicated to partnering nonprofits who support literacy. Winners will be able to choose which nonprofit will receive their donation. Winners are not eligible to claim these funds for personal use. The current list of prizes is published at www.eSpindle.org/prizes.html and may be subject to change without prior notice.

No substitution, transfer or cash alternative of prizes is permitted, except that the administrator may substitute a prize of equal or greater value if a prize is unavailable for any reason. All depictions of prizes in Word Cup promotional materials are for illustrative purposes only. ALL FEDERAL, STATE, LOCAL OR OTHER TAX LIABILITIES (AND THE REPORTING CONSEQUENCES THEREOF), AS WELL AS SHIPPING AND/OR IMPORT COSTS ARE THE SOLE RESPONSIBILITY OF THE WINNERS.

7. Preparation:
(1) eSpindle provides free ongoing practice quizzes, frequently updated, at www.eSpindle.org/free_quiz

(2) It is recommended that all contestants take a few of these quizzes to get used to the format and time frame allotted for each word.

(3) The only way in which the practice quizzes differ from the real Word Cup is that during Word Cup submitting a wrong entry will terminate the quiz, whereas during the practice quizzes you can simply continue.
 

8. Special needs: Word Cup strives to accommodate contestants who have physical challenges. If you find that your ability to participate is limited for any reason, please share ideas of how we can accommodate you better. Given the highly standardized, strictly scheduled and virtual nature of Word Cup, we may not be able to implement all of your suggestions. However, we will consider your feedback and suggestions carefully and improve our offering as soon as we are able to do so.
 

9. Miscellaneous:
(1) The Word Cup quiz presents audio, a brief, strongly abbreviated definition, a sample sentence, the word’s approximate length, its part of speech etc. to allow you to successfully distinguish homonyms. Please take all information given into consideration before submitting your answer.

(2) The audio can be repeated as often as you like. Notice, however, that you have only 15 seconds after the audio was first played to submit your answer, or the quiz will time out and terminate.

(3) Capitalization will not cause an entry to be dismissed. “WORD” and “Word” and “word” are all considered the same during the quizzes.

(4) Many words may have multiple acceptable pronunciations. During Word Cup only one variant is available. The pronunciation you hear may be slightly different from the pronunciation commonly used in your community.

(5) Always take the time to proofread your entry, since all submissions are final.
 

10. Disclaimers:
By participating in the WORD CUP, each participant (or participant’s parent or legal guardian if participant is a minor) agrees to be bound by these Procedures & Rules, and the decisions of the WORD CUP Administrator, which are final and binding in all respects, and waives any rights to claim ambiguity in the WORD CUP or these Procedures & Rules. By using this Web site and/or submitting Materials, you agree to indemnify the Administrator, its officers, directors, employees, agents, distributors and affiliates for any and all claims, damages, losses and causes of action arising out of your breach or alleged breach of this agreement. THE MATERIALS ON THIS SITE ARE TRANSMITTED AND DISTRIBUTED “AS IS” AND APPEAR ON THE SITE WITHOUT EXPRESS OR IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, WARRANTIES OF TITLE, IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY, OR FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. THE ADMINISTRATOR MAKES NO WARRANTY AS TO THE QUALITY, ACCURACY, COMPLETENESS AND VALIDITY OF ANY MATERIALS ON THE WEB SITE AND DOES NOT WARRANT THAT THE FUNCTIONS CONTAINED ON THE WEB SITE WILL BE UNINTERRUPTED OR ERROR-FREE, OR THAT DEFECTS WILL BE CORRECTED. Under no circumstances can you hold the administrator or any of the parties supporting the Word Cup responsible for problems due to the virtual and online nature of the event. Where applicable law does not allow the exclusion of implied warranties, the foregoing exclusions may not apply to you. The Materials provided on this Web site are for entertainment, educational, and promotional purposes only. Information and opinions expressed in other Forums are not necessarily those of the Administrator. Neither the Administrator, nor its officers, directors, employees, agents, distributors or affiliates are responsible or liable for any loss damage (including, but not limited to, actual, consequential, or punitive), liability, claim, or other injury or cause related to or resulting from any information posted on the Administrator’s Web site. Each participant (or participant’s parent or legal guardian if participant is a minor) voluntarily agrees to assume (for himself or herself and his/her personal representatives, assigns, heirs and next of kin), the entire risk of any loss, damage or injury to him or her in connection with his or her participation in the WORD CUP and/or arising out of his or her possession or use of any prize. Participant (or participant’s parent or legal guardian if participant is a minor) further understands that participant will not be permitted to participate in the WORD CUP unless participant (or participant’s parent or legal guardian if participant is a minor) voluntarily assumes all risk of loss, damage or injury in the WORD CUP, or arising out of participant’s possession or use of any prize.

11. Links:
The Administrator is not responsible for the content of any sites which may be linked to www.eSpindle.org or which www.eSpindle.org may be linking to. These links are provided for your convenience only and you access them at your own risk.

12. Termination:
The Administrator may, in its sole discretion, terminate or suspend your access to all or part of the site for any reason, including without limitation, breach of this agreement. In the event this agreement is terminated, the restrictions regarding Materials appearing on the site, and the representations and warranties, indemnities and limitations of liabilities set forth in this agreement shall survive any such termination.

13. General Release and Limitations on Liability:
Participant (or if participant is a minor, participant’s parent or legal guardian) hereby acknowledges and agrees that the WORD CUP administrator is not responsible for, and is hereby released from, any costs, injuries, losses, or damages of any kind arising from or in connection with:
(i) the WORD CUP; disputes over ambiguous quiz questions or answers to any questions; entry forms or consent forms that are incomplete, lost, late, misdirected, mutilated, forged, tampered with, destroyed, illegible, postage due or otherwise not in compliance with these Procedures & Rules (and such entries will be disqualified); and failure to receive entry forms or consent forms due to any cause, including, without limitation, human errors or malfunctions of any kind, whether originating with sender, or otherwise, that may limit or impair a contestant’s ability to participate in the WORD CUP;
(ii) any injury or damage resulting from acceptance/possession of a prize, participation in the WORD CUP or any WORD CUP-related activity, and/or the use or misuse of a prize, including, without limitation, claims, costs, injuries, losses and damages related to personal injury, death, damage to, loss or destruction of property (or third party’s property), or any claims, costs, injuries, losses, or damages related to or based on the entrant’s rights of publicity or privacy, or the entrant’s claim that he or she has somehow been defamed or portrayed in a false light; and
(iii) participants who attempt to interfere with other participants’ participation in the WORD CUP (collectively, the “Released Matters”). Without limiting the generality of the foregoing, the WORD CUP administrator is not responsible or liable for interrupted, inaccessible or unavailable quizzes, electronic transmissions, computer transmissions or any inability to participate in the WORD CUP or access any quiz (including, without limitation, the practice quizzes, Word Cup try outs, Semifinals and Finals), event or other WORD CUP-related activity; or for miscommunications; failed, jumbled, scrambled, delayed, or misdirected computer or electronic transmissions; or for any technical malfunctions, failures, difficulties or other errors of any kind or nature (including, without limitation, any that occur during the administration of any WORD CUP quiz); or for the incorrect or inaccurate capture of information, or the failure to capture any information (including, without limitation, a participant’s answers to questions on any WORD CUP quiz), and Sponsor reserves the right in its sole discretion to cancel, modify, suspend or extend the WORD CUP (or any portion thereof, including, without limitation, any quiz or the award of one or more prizes) upon the occurrence of any one or more of these events. Each participant (or participant’s parent or legal guardian if participant is a minor) understands and agrees that all rights under SECTION 1542 OF THE CIVIL CODE OF CALIFORNIA and similar law of any state or territory of the United States or International Law or any similar law of another country are hereby expressly waived. Section 1542 reads as follows: “1542. CERTAIN CLAIMS NOT AFFECTED BY GENERAL RELEASES. A GENERAL RELEASE DOES NOT EXTEND TO CLAIMS WHICH THE CREDITOR DOES NOT KNOW OR SUSPECT TO EXIST IN HIS OR HER FAVOR AT THE TIME OF EXECUTING THE RELEASE, WHICH IF KNOWN BY HIM OR HER MUST HAVE MATERIALLY AFFECTED HIS OR HER SETTLEMENT WITH THE DEBTOR.” Each participant (or participant’s parent or legal guardian if participant is a minor) waives any and all rights he or she may have or may have under California Civil Code Section 1542, and/or any similar provision of law or successor statute to it, with respect to the Released Matters.
Each winner (or winner’s parent or legal guardian if winner is a minor) acknowledges that the WORD CUP administrator has neither made nor is in any manner responsible/liable for any warranty, representation or guarantee, express or implied, in fact or in law, related to any prize.
If, for any reason (including, without limitation, preemption, interruption and/or cancellation), the WORD CUP is not capable of running as originally planned, the administrator at its sole discretion, reserves the right to cancel, suspend, extend or modify the WORD CUP or any portion thereof.

The Word Cup, just like the eSpindle tutoring program, is hosted on highly secure servers, using both software and hardware firewalls and various protective mechanisms. Under no circumstances may the Word Cup administrators be held liable for a data or hacking attack or similar comprising action to the servers.
 

14. Governing Law:
Any controversy, claim, dispute or cause of action arising out of or relating to (i) the WORD CUP (including, without limitation, any exams, live game play or the use of a participant’s Attributes), (ii) the awarding or redemption of any prize and/or (iii) the determination of the scope or applicability of these Procedures & Rules or their enforcement, arbitrability[R8]  or interpretation (collectively, “Claims”) shall be governed by and construed in accordance with the substantive laws of the State of California without giving effect to any choice of law or conflict of law rules or provisions that would cause the application of any other state’s laws.

15. Arbitration: Except where prohibited by law, as a condition of participating in the WORD CUP, each participant (or if participant is a minor, participant’s parent or legal guardian) agrees that all Claims shall be submitted to final and binding arbitration, to be held in Santa Rosa, California before a single arbitrator, in accordance with California Code of Civil Procedure §§ 1280 et seq. as modified by this provision. All claims shall be resolved individually, without resort to any form of class action; any and all claims, judgments and awards shall be limited to participant’s actual out-of-pocket expenses (i.e., costs associated with participating in the WORD CUP), but in no event will attorneys’ fees be awarded or recoverable; and under no circumstances will any participant be permitted to obtain any award for, and participant (or participant’s parent or legal guardian if participant is a minor) hereby knowingly and expressly waives all rights to seek, punitive, incidental or consequential damages and/or any other damages, other than actual out-of-pocket expenses, and/or any and all rights to have damages multiplied or otherwise increased. The arbitrator shall be selected by mutual agreement of the parties or, if the parties cannot agree, then by striking from a list of arbitrators supplied by the American Arbitration Association and except as otherwise stated in this provision, the arbitration will be conducted in accordance with the rules of the organization that is selected. The arbitration shall be a confidential proceeding, closed to the general public. Each party hereby waives any and all rights and benefits which it might otherwise have or be entitled to under federal law or International Law or the law of their native country or the laws of California or any other state to litigate any such dispute in court, it being the intention of the parties to arbitrate all such disputes. Each party expressly waives any right to a jury. The arbitrator shall issue a written opinion stating the essential findings and conclusions upon which the arbitrator’s award is based. The arbitrator’s decision shall be controlled by the terms and conditions of these Procedures & Rules and any other agreements the applicable entrant may have entered into with Sponsors in connection with the WORD CUP. The parties will share equally in payment of the arbitrator’s fees and arbitration expenses and any other costs unique to the arbitration hearing (recognizing that each side bears its own deposition, witness, expert and attorneys’ fees and other expenses to the same extent as if the matter were being heard in court). In the event that any provision of this arbitration provision or these Procedures & Rules is determined to be invalid or otherwise unenforceable or illegal, the balance of these rules shall otherwise remain in effect and shall be construed in accordance with their terms as if the invalid or illegal provision were not contained therein.

16. Appeals:
Errors and the correct answers are clearly displayed at the end of each quiz.
If you believe that the quiz was terminated erroneously, you may send an email appeal (with delivery confirmation enabled) to the Word Cup administrator at wordcup@eSpindle.org.

The appeal needs to reference the OED in regards to the quiz entry being appealed. It further needs to contain your Word Cup user name and a few lines explaining why you are filing the appeal.
The decisions on appeals made by the Word Cup administrator are final.

17. Submissions:
Although comments and questions are welcomed, eSpindle Learning does not accept unsolicited submissions or creative ideas for its programs or products. Any messages, suggestions, ideas, or concepts that are submitted shall become, and remain, the property of eSpindle. Furthermore, the eSpindle is not responsible for the confidentiality of any information communicated to the eSpindle Web site. By communicating materials[R9]  to eSpindle’s site, you are granting eSpindle a royalty-free, non-exclusive, perpetual, unrestricted, worldwide license to publish, transmit, perform and display the materials for any purpose, including, but not limited to, advertising and promotional purposes. eSpindle reserves the right at all times to disclose any information necessary in its sole discretion to satisfy any law, regulation or governmental request, or to edit, refuse to post or remove any information or materials, in whole or in part, that in eSpindle’s sole discretion are objectionable or in violation of these terms and conditions.

18. Intellectual Property:
All materials on this site (including, but not limited to, text, data, images, audio clips and graphic design – are hereafter called “Materials”) and those used to create and promote the Word Cup or eSpindle Learning, are copyrighted by eSpindle Learning or used with permission. All rights reserved.

You may not reproduce, perform, create derivative works from, republish, upload, post, transmit, or distribute in any way whatsoever any Materials from www.eSpindle.org, www.WordCupCafe.org or any other Web site owned or operated by the administrator without the prior written permission of the administrator. However, you may print any downloadable items displayed on the site for personal non-commercial home use only, provided all copyright and other notices contained in the Materials are left intact. Any modification of the Materials, or any portion thereof, or use of the Materials for any other purpose constitutes an infringement of the administrator’s copyrights and other proprietary rights.
Use of these Materials on any other Web site is only permitted with explicit mentioning of our copyright and including a live link to the source of the Materials.

Word Cup and eSpindle are registered trademarks of eSpindle Learning.
Oxford English Dictionary and OED are trademarks of Oxford University Press.
Any other trademarks mentioned on the site belong to their registered owner.

Contact information: