1. Agreement to Terms
These Terms and Conditions (“Terms”) govern your access to and use of sterlinggospelawards.com and any related pages, content, features, and services (collectively, the “Site”), operated by The Sterling Gospel Awards (“Sterling Gospel Awards”, “we”, “us”, or “our”).
By accessing or using the Site, submitting a nomination, casting a vote, subscribing to communications, or otherwise interacting with the Site, you agree to be bound by these Terms. If you do not agree, you must not use the Site.
2. Eligibility
You must be at least 16 years old to use the Site. If you are under the age of majority in your jurisdiction, you may use the Site only with the involvement and consent of a parent or legal guardian.
By using the Site, you represent that you have the legal capacity to enter into these Terms and that all information you provide is accurate, current, and complete.
3. Definitions
- “Awards” means the Sterling Gospel Awards programme, including its nomination, judging, voting, and presentation processes.
- “Entrant” means any artiste, songwriter, producer, group, or other party submitted for consideration in the Awards.
- “Nominator” means any person who submits an entry or nomination through the Site.
- “User Content” means any material you submit, upload, or transmit through the Site, including audio recordings, lyrics, artwork, video, biographical information, photographs, and written text.
4. Use of the Site
You may use the Site only for lawful purposes and in accordance with these Terms. You agree that you will not:
- Submit false, misleading, or fraudulent information;
- Impersonate any person or entity, or misrepresent your affiliation with any person or entity;
- Attempt to manipulate nomination, judging, or voting outcomes, including through automated scripts, bots, vote-buying, duplicate accounts, or coordinated inauthentic activity;
- Upload material that is unlawful, defamatory, obscene, harassing, hateful, or that infringes the rights of any third party;
- Introduce viruses, malware, or any other harmful code;
- Attempt to gain unauthorised access to the Site, its servers, or any connected systems;
- Scrape, harvest, or systematically extract data from the Site without our prior written consent;
- Use the Site in any manner that could disable, overburden, damage, or impair it.
We reserve the right to disqualify any entry, void any votes, suspend any account, and restrict access to the Site where we reasonably believe these Terms have been breached.
5. Nominations, Judging, and Voting
5.1 Separate rules. Nominations, judging, and voting are additionally governed by the official Awards criteria and rules published on the Site. Where those rules conflict with these Terms in relation to the Awards process, the official Awards rules prevail.
5.2 Eligibility of entries. Entries must satisfy all published eligibility requirements, including any stipulated eligibility period, artiste requirements, content requirements, and airplay requirements. We may request supporting evidence and may reject or disqualify any entry that does not meet the published criteria.
5.3 Rights and permissions. By submitting an entry, you warrant that you own or have obtained all necessary rights, licences, consents, and permissions in the submitted material, including from co-writers, performers, producers, publishers, and rights holders, and that the submission does not infringe any third-party rights.
5.4 Decisions. All decisions of the judges, the awards committee, and the organisers regarding eligibility, nomination, judging, voting, and results are final. We are not obliged to enter into correspondence regarding any decision.
5.5 Changes to the programme. We reserve the right to add, amend, suspend, postpone, reschedule, or cancel any category, ceremony, or aspect of the Awards at any time.
5.6 Fees. Where entry, submission, or ticketing fees apply, they are non-refundable except as required by law or as expressly stated at the point of payment.
6. User Content and Licence
You retain ownership of your User Content.
By submitting User Content, you grant us a non-exclusive, royalty-free, worldwide, sub-licensable licence to use, reproduce, store, adapt, publish, broadcast, stream, and display that User Content for the purposes of operating, administering, judging, promoting, and publicising the Awards and the Site, including in press materials, broadcasts, social media, and archival records. This licence continues after the relevant awards cycle for archival and promotional purposes.
You are solely responsible for your User Content. We do not endorse, and are not responsible for, any User Content. We may remove or refuse any User Content at our discretion.
7. Intellectual Property
The Site and all its content — including the Sterling Gospel Awards name, logos, trophies and trophy designs, branding, text, graphics, layout, and software — are owned by or licensed to Sterling Gospel Awards and are protected by copyright, trade mark, and other intellectual property laws.
You may view and download material from the Site for your own personal, non-commercial use. You may not otherwise reproduce, distribute, modify, publicly display, or create derivative works from any part of the Site without our prior written permission.
8. Publicity
Nominees, winners, and participants agree that their name, likeness, image, voice, biography, and submitted material may be used by us and our authorised media partners in connection with the Awards, without additional compensation, except where prohibited by law.
9. Third-Party Links and Services
The Site may contain links to third-party websites, streaming platforms, payment processors, or services. These are provided for convenience only. We do not control and are not responsible for the content, policies, availability, or practices of any third party. Your use of third-party services is at your own risk and subject to their terms.
10. Privacy
Your use of the Site is also governed by our Privacy Policy, which explains how we collect, use, store, and disclose personal information. By using the Site, you consent to those practices.
11. Disclaimers
The Site is provided on an “as is” and “as available” basis. To the fullest extent permitted by law, we disclaim all warranties, express or implied, including warranties of merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose, non-infringement, accuracy, and uninterrupted or error-free operation.
We do not warrant that the Site will be secure, free of viruses, or continuously available, or that any defect will be corrected.
12. Limitation of Liability
To the fullest extent permitted by law, Sterling Gospel Awards, its directors, officers, employees, judges, sponsors, partners, and agents shall not be liable for any indirect, incidental, special, consequential, punitive, or exemplary damages, or for any loss of profits, revenue, data, goodwill, or opportunity, arising out of or in connection with your use of the Site or participation in the Awards.
Nothing in these Terms excludes or limits liability that cannot lawfully be excluded or limited, including liability for death or personal injury caused by negligence, or for fraud.
13. Indemnity
You agree to indemnify, defend, and hold harmless Sterling Gospel Awards and its directors, officers, employees, judges, sponsors, partners, and agents from and against any claims, liabilities, damages, losses, and expenses (including reasonable legal fees) arising out of or connected with your use of the Site, your User Content, your entry into the Awards, or your breach of these Terms.
14. Suspension and Termination
We may suspend or terminate your access to the Site, remove your content, or disqualify your entry at any time, with or without notice, where we reasonably believe you have breached these Terms or where necessary to protect the integrity of the Awards.
15. Changes to These Terms
We may amend these Terms at any time. The revised version takes effect when posted on the Site, and the “Last updated” date will be revised accordingly. Your continued use of the Site after changes are posted constitutes acceptance of the revised Terms. We encourage you to review this page periodically.
16. Governing Law and Jurisdiction
These Terms are governed by and construed in accordance with the laws of Jamaica, without regard to conflict of law principles. You agree to submit to the exclusive jurisdiction of the courts of Jamaica for the resolution of any dispute arising out of or relating to these Terms or the Site.
17. General
Severability. If any provision of these Terms is found to be unenforceable, the remaining provisions remain in full force and effect.
No waiver. Our failure to enforce any provision does not constitute a waiver of that provision.
Entire agreement. These Terms, together with the Privacy Policy and the official Awards rules, constitute the entire agreement between you and us regarding the Site.
Assignment. You may not assign your rights under these Terms. We may assign ours without restriction.